


Chasing Ashes

by Shel_Kim



Category: Super Junior
Genre: Alternate Universe - Police, Angst, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Blood and Torture, Blood and Violence, Crime Fighting, Detectives, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, Korean Characters, M/M, Mental Instability, Murder Mystery, Mystery, Past Abuse, Past Relationship(s), Police, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Torture, Psychopaths In Love, Revenge, Romance, Sequel, Serial Killers, Some Humor, Stockholm Syndrome, Suspense, Temporary Amnesia, Thriller, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-05-21 08:04:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 14
Words: 55,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14911556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shel_Kim/pseuds/Shel_Kim
Summary: Following the events of ‘Entangled in a Spider’s Web’, after Sungmin and Ryeowook are sent into hiding, Kyuhyun and Yesung begin to kidnap and torture officers from the 18th Precinct, giving the police an ultimatum; every few days they will kill a new officer until Sungmin and Ryeowook are returned to them. Now, Donghae, Siwon, Seunghyun, and Changmin must race against the clock to track down the criminals before they become victims themselves.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I highly recommend reading "Entangled in a Spider's Web" before diving into this, so as to get an idea of what is going on.
> 
> This story is also posted on my Wattpad and Asianfanfics account. Hope you guys enjoy!

_*Flashback 2 weeks ago*_

          “Sungmin, what the fuck are you doing?!” Detective Lee Donghae screamed as he watched his cousin turn back to face his kidnapper.

          “I wanna stay,” Sungmin whispered, feeling his body be drawn towards Kyuhyun as he slowly walked to the dark brunette Korean, keeping their eyes locked together. Sungmin closed his eyes and felt Kyuhyun’s hands on his face as he repeated “I wanna stay with you.”

          Kyuhyun smiled and leaned forward to kiss Sungmin’s lips, ignoring Donghae’s demands to cease his actions. “Okay Minnie, let’s go,” Kyuhyun suggested, watching Sungmin nod in agreement.

          “You’re not taking him anywhere!” Donghae shouted, aiming his gun directly at Kyuhyun.

          “Get over it detective, you lost. Minnie wants to be with me, and there’s nothing you –” Kyuhyun started before a gunshot rang out through the air.

          The detectives turned and saw Kangin remove his finger from the trigger of his gun, lowering it slowly. Sungmin faced Kyuhyun and saw his eyes were wide, and a red mark was growing on his abdomen. “Kyuhyun?” Sungmin whispered.

          Kyuhyun pulled Sungmin forward and whispered “I won’t leave you Minnie.” The dark brunette criminal then closed his eyes and breathed out his last breath before falling backwards over the railing into the dark waters of the Han River below, leaving Sungmin standing there with his mouth gaped open, and his eyes glued on the spot where Kyuhyun was just a few moments prior.

          “No,” Sungmin cried as tears leaked from his eyes. He stood frozen until he felt Donghae’s arms around him, promising him that everything was okay now. Sungmin didn’t care to listen though, he had just watched the person he was in love with fall over the railing to his death.

          Kyuhyun felt his body sink deeper into the river as he was carried downstream, before his eyes shot open and he emerged from the water, gasping for breath, clenching his wound tightly. He coughed out water as the river’s strong current continued sending him farther away from the scene. He could just barely make out Sungmin’s outline as the blonde was placed in an ambulance. The pain in Kyuhyun’s abdomen was growing, and dark brunette Korean knew he had to get to land soon before he bled out. Mustering his strength, Kyuhyun forced himself to the riverbank, crawling on his knees onto land, before the pain became too much, and Kyuhyun passed out right there on the riverside.

          At the hospital, as Sungmin was being treated, he asked the doctor, “Can someone survive a fall off a bridge?”

          The doctor looked at him confused for a moment before responding “Yes, it’s possible, it just depends on how high the bridge was and what they fell into.”

          “What about being shot right here?” Sungmin wondered, placing his hand on the spot where Kyuhyun had been shot.

          “As long as the bullet didn’t hit any major arteries, and you manage to get the wound closed before bleeding to death,” the doctor confirmed. “Why do you ask?”

          “Curiosity,” Sungmin muttered before lying down in his bed.

          In the middle of the night, Sungmin felt an impulse inside him that told him Kyuhyun was still alive and needed help. The blonde rose from his bed, changed back into his regular clothes, and quietly snuck out of the hospital, before hailing a taxi. “Where to?” the driver asked.

          “The Han River Bridge please,” Sungmin requested. The blonde felt his mind zone out as the taxi drove to his destination, he was worried that he was already too late. “Yes, right here,” Sungmin confirmed as the taxi pulled over off the side of the bridge, close to the shoreline. “Could you wait here just a minute please?” The driver nodded before Sungmin shut the door.

          Sungmin began searching the river and the riverbank, calling out Kyuhyun’s name ever so often. After several minutes of looking and walking along the bank, Sungmin gasped as he saw a figure lying in the shallow water. The blonde rushed over and found it was indeed Kyuhyun, with blood slowly oozing from the bullet wound in his abdomen. Sungmin dropped to his knees and felt Kyuhyun’s neck, praying for a miracle. There was a faint pulse, and Sungmin knew he had to hurry. Grabbing Kyuhyun under the arms, Sungmin dragged him as carefully as he could back to the taxi, laying him down in the backseat, with his head resting on his lap. He knew he couldn’t take Kyuhyun to the Gangnam Emergency Hospital or anywhere close by, out of fear Donghae would see him, or someone would recognize him. “Incheon Emergency Hospital, please hurry,” Sungmin stated.

          As the driver drove him towards Incheon, Kyuhyun took a breath and slowly opened his eyes, almost inaudibly muttering “Minnie.”

          Sungmin shushed Kyuhyun and promised “It’s alright, I found you, I’m gonna get you help. Everything’s gonna be fine.” The blonde stroked Kyuhyun’s face as the dark brunette Korean fell back unconscious. Once they reached Incheon Emergency Hospital, Sungmin took Kyuhyun inside and helped him onto one of the gurneys. “Please, please take care of him,” Sungmin pleaded to the doctors who rushed over. The blonde watched as Kyuhyun was wheeled back towards the operating room; Sungmin muttered to himself “He’ll be alright, he has to be.”

          _*End Flashback*_

          “That’s about all that happened, and I haven’t seen him ever since,” Sungmin lamented, as he leaned his head against his hand and felt a couple of tears escape out of the corners of his eyes.

          “And this was two weeks ago?” Sungmin’s therapist, Dr. Kim Kibum asked.

          “Yes,” Sungmin confirmed.

          “Have you told your cousin or anyone else that he survived?” Kibum wondered.

          “No, I just hope Kyuhyun isn’t mad at me for leaving him there alone,” Sungmin muttered, curling up on the couch into the fetal position.

          “Sungmin, why do you let Kyuhyun continue to have this control over you?” Kibum questioned.

          “He doesn’t control me doctor, he loves me, he showed me that,” Sungmin defended.

          “Sungmin, you were being held hostage, and he emotionally and sexually took advantage of you,” Kibum reminded.

          “No, I let him have sex with me to keep Ryeowook safe because he was emotionally scarred and I knew Kyuhyun would be gentle with me,” Sungmin argued.

          “You were being held hostage,” Kibum repeated. “Legally, hostages cannot consent because of the psychological trauma being inflicted on them. Legally, Cho Kyuhyun raped you.”

          “No, n-no he didn’t,” Sungmin mumbled, burying his face in his sleeves as he shook his head. “Kyuhyun loves me.” 

          “No Sungmin, he loved Jaemin, his boyfriend. Kyuhyun’s psyche is so distorted that he thought you were Jaemin, and he brainwashed you into believing you were this façade so he could manipulate and take advantage of you,” Kibum explained. Still seeing Sungmin’s stoic expression, the therapist continued, “Let me ask you this, did Kyuhyun ever refer to you as Sungmin, or only as Minnie?”

          “What?” Sungmin muttered, raising his head slightly.

          “Did Kyuhyun ever call you by your name?” Kibum repeated.

          “He only called me Minnie, but I –” Sungmin started.

          “Do you not think that if he was really in love with you, then he would’ve called you by your real name?” Kibum questioned.

          Sungmin sat there silently, pondering. He looked at his doctor and said “You don’t know him.”

          “Neither do you Sungmin; Cho Kyuhyun is a violent, manipulative, murdering rapist who held you prisoner because of who he believed you were. He conned you into trusting him by giving you food, and clothes, and a bed, all while whispering sweet nothings in your ear; that’s what psychopaths do,” Kibum explained. “Your cousin, Detective Lee, even mentioned that during the standoff on the bridge, that Kyuhyun held a gun to your head. Why would he do that to someone he truly loved?”

          “Kyuhyun told me he might have to take extreme measures to get the Captain to admit what he did, and that I would have to be used momentarily. But he promised me that the gun was empty and that he would never do anything to intentionally harm me,” Sungmin informed. “He just needed me to help him, so I stood there and played the part for him.”

          “Just like you played the part of being Jaemin?” Kibum wondered.

          Sungmin shook his head. “That’s different,” he denied.

          “How is it different?” Kibum asked. “In both circumstances, you pretended to be something or someone you weren’t.” Sungmin remained silent before Kibum added, “You know deep in your heart and mind that what Kyuhyun did to you, and to all the other victims was wrong, right?”

          “He’s not all bad though, if he was, he would’ve killed me, but he didn’t. That’s gotta count for something; Kyuhyun was good to me, and nothing you say to me is going to make me believe any different; I don’t care if it doesn’t make sense to you, to my cousin, or to the police department, all I care is that it makes sense to me and Kyuhyun,” Sungmin remarked.

          Suddenly there was a knock on the door, before a woman stepped inside. “Detective Lee is here to collect Sungmin, Dr. Kim,” she said.

          “Thank you,” Kibum replied as he and Sungmin both stood.

          Kibum led Sungmin out into the waiting room where Donghae was. “How’d it go today?” Donghae asked. “Any improvements?”

          “I cannot reveal any details of our session, but I will say that Sungmin’s Stockholm syndrome is more severe than I originally thought,” Kibum stated. “Just make sure he stays on his antidepressants, and I’ll see him next week.”

          Donghae nodded before leading Sungmin out of the building with Dr. Kim watching them. “He thinks I’m crazy Donghae; he doesn’t understand me,” Sungmin said.

          “Well, just give it time Sungmin, your trauma is still fresh but overtime things will get better, and it’ll go back to normal,” Donghae promised.

          “Things will never be the same again Donghae, I don’t see how it’s possible,” Sungmin replied, lowering his head.

          “It’ll be okay,” Donghae whispered, pulling his blonde cousin into a comforting hug. After a few moments, he turned and signaled to a taxi, before opening up the backdoor. “Just go back to the apartment and rest, I’ll be home later after Hyukjae gets done with his physical therapy and his weekly psych evaluation, okay?” Sungmin nodded. “We’ll bring you home some dinner.” Donghae then shut the door to the taxi before it drove away.

          Sungmin rode up the elevator to the shared apartment once he reached the building. A few days after the incident, following Donghae’s promotion, he thought it would be a smart idea to move into a larger apartment to accommodate three people, since Hyukjae was now staying with them during his recovery. Sungmin unlocked the door and stepped into the dark apartment, walking through the living room, past the bedroom that belonged to Donghae and Hyukjae, and entered his own room. The blonde curled up on his bed and heard thunder rumbling softly in the distance outside, very fitting for Sungmin’s mood. He closed his eyes and buried himself underneath his comforter, crying quietly into the blanket. As he began to slowly drift off to sleep, Sungmin was suddenly forced awake by a knock on the door. Groaning, the blonde heaved himself up out of the bed and towards the front door. “Donghae, did you forget your –” Sungmin asked, before feeling the breath be forced from him as he saw who was standing there. “K-Kyuhyun?”

          The dark brunette Korean grinned at Sungmin as he quietly responded “It’s me Minnie.”

          Sungmin pulled Kyuhyun into the apartment before kissing him feverishly. Kyuhyun slid his arms around Sungmin’s waist and deepened their kissing, pressing Sungmin back against the door. Tears streamed down the blonde’s face as he raked his fingers through Kyuhyun’s hair and whispered “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry I left you in that hospital. I –”

          Kyuhyun shushed Sungmin’s crying gently, resting his forehead against Sungmin’s, replying “It’s alright Minnie, you saved me; if it hadn’t been for you, I would be dead right now. I understand that you were scared, but you don’t have to be anymore, I’m here now.”

          They kissed one another again before the blonde wrapped his arms around Kyuhyun’s neck and buried his face in his shoulder, feeling Kyuhyun’s embrace tighten around his trembling frame. Sungmin jumped up and slid his legs around Kyuhyun’s waist, as the dark brunette Korean understood what Sungmin wanted. Kyuhyun carried the blonde through the dimly lit apartment, back towards his bedroom, shutting the door behind them. Setting Sungmin on the ground, Kyuhyun placed his hands on Sungmin’s face as they looked at one another. Leaning forward, Kyuhyun kissed Sungmin’s lips once more, slipping his fingers underneath his sweatshirt, pulling it up over his head. Sungmin followed Kyuhyun’s lead and unbuttoned Kyuhyun’s shirt, hastily pushing it off him, leaving both of their upper bodies exposed. The blonde stared directly at the bullet wound on Kyuhyun’s abdomen from where the Captain had shot him, and shakily stroked his fingers over the ailment, feeling new tears forming in his eyes. Kyuhyun shushed him gently, and tilted Sungmin’s head to the side, beginning to kiss and suck against the blonde’s soft neck, gently sinking his teeth into Sungmin’s flesh. Sungmin moaned out as he closed his eyes, feeling Kyuhyun’s hands rest on the waistband of his jeans. The dark brunette Korean unfastened Sungmin’s jeans, letting them slide down his legs, puddling around his ankles, leaving Sungmin with only his boxers on. Kyuhyun gently raked his fingernails up the blonde’s back, causing goosebumps to erupt across Sungmin’s skin as he moaned again. Picking his lips up from Sungmin’s neck, Kyuhyun gently pushed Sungmin down onto his bed and climbed on top, hovering over him. Sungmin placed his hands on Kyuhyun’s face and whispered “I want you Kyuhyun.”

          Kyuhyun smiled and took one of Sungmin’s hands, kissing his palm, replying “You’ve always had me Minnie.”

          Leaning down, Kyuhyun captured Sungmin’s lips with his own once more before his mouth began its journey down Sungmin’s body. The blonde closed his eyes as he took in the feeling of Kyuhyun’s touch on his skin once more. Sungmin moaned loudly and arched his back suddenly when he felt Kyuhyun’s lips enclose around one of his erect nipples. The blonde dug clenched the bedsheets tightly, feeling Kyuhyun’s tongue seductively glide from one bud to the other, making sure to give both equal attention; caressing his fingertips down Sungmin’s ribs, before dipping his head lower to kiss around Sungmin’s stomach and hips. Kyuhyun yanked off Sungmin’s boxers, discarding them off the side of the bed, before opening his mouth and taking in Sungmin’s member, resulting in the blonde rolling his eyes up and moaning loudly in erotic pleasure. Sungmin began jutting his hips forwards as he started panting, feeling his body move in unison with Kyuhyun’s mouth. Throwing his head back, Sungmin arched his back and orgasmed down Kyuhyun’s throat, feeling his lover suck up every bit of expelled seed. As Sungmin caught his breath, Kyuhyun softly planted kisses along the blonde’s inner thighs, before crawling back up Sungmin’s body, pressing their lips together intensely.

          Sungmin eagerly reached down and unbuttoned Kyuhyun’s jeans, pushing them off with both his hands and feet. Kyuhyun smirked, snaking his hands down the sides of Sungmin’s thighs, before taking his legs and wrapping them around his own waist. The dark brunette Korean began to thrust into Sungmin, while kissing and nipping at his neck once more. Sungmin moaned loudly, slipping his hands up Kyuhyun’s back as Kyuhyun pushed in and out of him repeatedly. “Kyuhyun, ah K-Kyuhyun, ah, oh Kyuhyun,” Sungmin cried out in pleasure. The blonde no longer felt sad or lonely anymore, now that he was reunited with and had become one with Kyuhyun again, everything was right in his world.

          The dark brunette Korean pushed deep into Sungmin, striking his sweet spot, causing Sungmin to arch his back even more, before releasing into him. Kyuhyun gazed down at Sungmin as they both heaved their breaths, chests pressing against one another’s ever so often. He moved to lie next to Sungmin and pulled the blonde’s back against his chest, as he lightly trailed his lips across Sungmin’s shoulder. “I love you Minnie,” he whispered.

          “I love you too Kyuhyun,” Sungmin echoed.

          Kyuhyun began to gently caress his fingertips up and down Sungmin’s back as he asked “What happened after they took you away?”

          “I was taken to the hospital, and the doctors said I had PTSD and Stockholm syndrome. They put me on medicine and forced me to see a therapist, and all he tries to do is convince me that you don’t love me,” Sungmin explained as tears built up in his eyes.

          Kyuhyun shushed him softly, kissing his shoulder again. “You know that’s not true; I love you with all my heart Minnie, they just can’t understand what we have,” he muttered.

          “Donghae won’t try to understand, and I honestly don’t think he cares anymore. All he does now is help Hyukjae recover, his whole life now is just work, Hyukjae, work, Hyukjae; it feels like he wants me gone so it can be just the two of them,” Sungmin cried quietly.

          Kyuhyun gently shushed Sungmin once more, as the blonde nestled closer to him. “You know what I think,” Kyuhyun whispered into Sungmin’s ear before nipping at the lobe. “I think going away is exactly what you need to do; you should go away, with me.”

          The dark brunette Korean snaked his hand down Sungmin’s spine, across the small of his back, around the curve of his backside, over his thighs, to finally brush over the blonde’s member. Sungmin gasped and curled his legs and toes, feeling Kyuhyun’s fingers wrap around his member and begin moving up and down slowly. “K-Kyuhyun,” the blonde called out, grasping the side of his pillow in his fists.

          “Let me take you away Minnie; let me take you far away from here. I can take better care of you than your cousin or any doctors ever could. It’ll be just you and me forever, no one will ever hurt you again, no one will ever think you’re wrong for loving me again, and I will never let you feel alone for the rest of your life,” Kyuhyun promised as he kissed Sungmin’s neck, while simultaneously continuing to pump his hand up and down the blonde’s member, gradually increasing his speed. “Would you like that Minnie?”

          “Yes, oh god yes,” Sungmin moaned out, placing his hand on top of Kyuhyun’s, absentmindedly thrusting his hips at the sensation. Kyuhyun gently bit Sungmin’s neck, sucking against the delicate skin, hearing Sungmin moan out, before feeling his hand become coated in a warm, sticky substance ejecting from Sungmin’s member. Kyuhyun sat up to wipe off his hands, letting Sungmin lay there and catch his breath for a moment, before lying back down next to him. Sungmin turned over to face Kyuhyun and buried his face in his neck, whispering “You’re the only one who loves me; please take me where we can be together.”

          Kyuhyun smiled before slipping his hands around Sungmin’s body, caressing his back once more, and placing a kiss on his lips. “I will Minnie,” he agreed. “But not tonight; there are still things that need to be taken care of first.”

          “Like what?” Sungmin wondered, glancing up at Kyuhyun.

          “I have to get our place in Busan prepared for you. I want to make sure everything is perfect before I bring you home,” Kyuhyun muttered, kissing Sungmin’s lips again. “We could’ve been there two weeks ago, if not for the unfortunate circumstances.”

          “How long will it take?” Sungmin inquired, wrapping his arms around Kyuhyun’s neck.

          “A week at most, but don’t worry Minnie, I won’t be gone long,” Kyuhyun promised as he slid his arms around Sungmin, pulling him into an embrace.

          “I don’t want you to leave at all,” Sungmin responded.

          Kyuhyun smirked. “I know you don’t Minnie, but it’ll just be a few days; it’ll give you time to get your things packed,” he replied. Kyuhyun leaned forward and kissed Sungmin, nipping at the blonde’s lower lip as Sungmin moaned quietly. “I love you baby.”

          “I love you too,” Sungmin echoed.

          Kyuhyun continued gently kissing Sungmin’s lips as he caressed his fingertips over the blonde’s back, putting him to sleep. He grinned at Sungmin as he fell asleep in his arms, whispering “I’ll be back for you Minnie.” The dark brunette Korean slowly pulled away from Sungmin, and climbed out of the bed, redressing himself in the silence of the bedroom. Kyuhyun turned back to Sungmin and saw that he was peacefully still resting. Smiling, Kyuhyun knelt down and trailed his lips up Sungmin’s spine, listening to the quiet moans emit from the sleeping blonde. “I’ll be back baby,” Kyuhyun quietly repeated before slipping out of the apartment.

          A little while later, when Donghae and Hyukjae returned to the apartment, Donghae called “Sungmin, we’re back.” When his cousin didn’t make a sound, Donghae repeated “Sungmin?”

          “He did come home, right?” Hyukjae wondered as he sat down at the kitchen table.

          “I’ll check his room,” Donghae figured, walking towards the bedrooms. Donghae softly knocked on the door before opening it up. He looked inside and saw Sungmin asleep in his bed still; Donghae was just about to close the door when he saw Sungmin’s disheveled clothing littering the floor. The brunette paused a moment before closing the door.

          “What’s wrong?” Hyukjae asked as Donghae reentered the living room.

          “Sungmin’s clothes are all over the floor, but he’s usually so tidy about putting away his clothes,” Donghae said. “I wonder if something happened, I mean he was even sleeping shirtless, and he never does that.”

          “Maybe he’s just tired, you know how he gets after one of his therapy sessions,” Hyukjae reminded. “I get the same way after my therapy and evaluations too.”

          Donghae smiled, slowly placing a hand on Hyukjae’s face, stroking his cheek. “I know you do,” he muttered. Donghae and Hyukjae looked at one another for a moment, before Donghae leaned down and kissed Hyukjae’s forehead, whispering “We should eat before the food gets cold, then I’ll give you a bath.”

          As Donghae and Hyukjae ate dinner, Sungmin opened his eyes slightly, rolling over to the other side of the bed, where Kyuhyun had laid and inhaled the faint remains of Kyuhyun’s scent on the pillow. Sungmin smiled at the scent before opening his eyes, realizing Kyuhyun had left. “Kyuhyun?” he whispered, looking around his dark bedroom. Sungmin sighed, but remembered that Kyuhyun had told him he’d be back for him in a couple of days, which made his heart pound. Smiling, Sungmin buried his face back into the pillow, breathing in his lover’s scent once more. “I knew he loved me,” Sungmin muttered, burying himself underneath his blanket.


	2. Chapter 2

          The next morning, Donghae and Hyukjae were having breakfast at the table when Sungmin arose and joined them. “Hey, look who finally woke up,” Hyukjae jokingly said.  “Everything okay? You slept for a long time,” Donghae wondered as his cousin joined them at the table.

          “I’m fine Donghae, in fact, I’ve never been better,” Sungmin replied as a blush flooded his cheeks.

          As Sungmin poured himself a bowl of cereal, Donghae noticed a mark on the blonde. “Sungmin is that a hickey on your neck?” the detective asked.

          Sungmin froze for a moment before calmly responding “Of course not Donghae, I probably just slept weird, that’s all.”

          Donghae continued looking at Sungmin, watching his cousin touch the red mark on his neck while a subtle smile crept across his lips. When Donghae finished eating, he stood up and announced “I’ve gotta head to the precinct, but I’ll be back on my lunch break to check on you two.” Walking over to the kitchen cabinets, Donghae opened a drawer and retrieved several bottles before unscrewing each and taking out the appropriate dosage. He stepped back over to the table and laid a pill down next to Sungmin. “Here’s your medicine Sungmin, don’t forget to take it,” he reminded.

          “I won’t,” Sungmin groaned as he immediately downed the pill with a sip of his juice.

          “And here’s your medicine Hyukjae,” Donghae echoed as he set down the remaining pills next to Hyukjae.

          “Thank you Donghae,” Hyukjae replied, smiling up at the brunette.

          Donghae kissed the top of the blonde’s head before heading out the door, saying “I’ll be back later.” Instead of going to the precinct right away, Donghae headed down to the lobby of the apartment complex and back towards the security area.

          Knocking on the door, Donghae was greeted by the building security officer. “What can I do for you Officer Lee?” the man questioned.

          “Did you notice anyone, strange, follow my cousin home last night around four or five?” Donghae inquired.

          “Sorry Detective, I had already clocked out for the day around that time, but if you need to borrow the security footage and take a look for yourself, I can make you a copy,” the security guard offered.

          “That would be great, thank you,” Donghae agreed.

          Donghae walked through the doors of the Gangnam 18th Precinct, over to his desk area where he was greeted by Siwon, Seunghyun, and Changmin. After they had successfully rescued Sungmin and Ryeowook and managed to put an end to Kyuhyun and Yesung’s murderous tirade, the four were promoted to a special task unit known as E.L.F., or the Elite Legal Force, specializing in kidnappings, serial killers, crimes of that nature. “Hey Donghae, you okay?” Changmin asked as he leaned back in his chair.

          “Yeah you seem a little off, did you and Hyukjae have a fight or something?” Seunghyun wondered.

          “No, nothing like that,” Donghae replied, sitting down at his desk. “I think someone was at the apartment last night while I was with Hyukjae at therapy.”

          “Wait, someone was in there with Sungmin?” Siwon inquired. “Did he tell you someone was there?”

          “No, but there’ve been, signs,” Donghae slowly informed.

          “Like what?” Seunghyun asked.

          “Well the most obvious one was this morning, I saw a hickey on his neck, and when I asked him about it; Sungmin just smiled and brushed it off like it was nothing,” Donghae explained.

          “You sure it was a hickey? He didn’t just sleep weird?” Changmin wondered.

          “No, definitely a hickey, I saw teeth marks as well,” Donghae corrected as he slipped a disk into his desk computer. “Now all I need to know is who gave it to Sungmin, and why he’s being so secretive about it.”

          “You sure he wasn’t seeing anyone secretly?” Siwon asked. “Maybe someone he met before the incident?”

          “No, Sungmin’s never dated, that psychopath even took his virginity,” Donghae growled lowly. Pulling up the surveillance footage of their main elevator from the previous day, Donghae scrolled over to the appropriate time frame. “Okay, so I put Sungmin in a taxi to go home around 3:45 pm yesterday, and with considering time for traffic, that should put him back at the apartment around four.”

          “What kind of window are we looking at here?” Siwon asked as he, Seunghyun, and Changmin all walked over to Donghae’s desk.

          “About an hour and a half,” Donghae stated.

          The brunette detective began to gradually increase the speed of the clock on the recorded video and observed the people on the elevator. “Okay, well there’s Sungmin,” Seunghyun pointed out, as they watched the blonde step onto the elevator at 4:03 pm.

          “Yeah, he seems alone, are we thinking someone followed him?” Changmin wondered.

          “It looks that way,” Donghae agreed. The four continued watching until five minutes had passed, and what the detectives saw caused them to all gasp. Donghae paused the video as they stared at the footage and Cho Kyuhyun on the elevator.

          “No fucking way,” Seunghyun said, covering his mouth.

          “How the hell?” Changmin asked.

          “But I thought he –” Siwon started, too shocked to finish his statement.

          “That’s not possible,” Donghae muttered. “He’s supposed to be dead. We all saw him fall from that bridge, this has to be a mistake.” Continuing the video footage, the detectives watched as Kyuhyun rode up to the floor where the apartment was, and stepped out of the elevator. “Son of a bitch, he did go see Sungmin; Kyuhyun must’ve followed him from the therapist’s office.” Donghae jumped up from his desk and marched over to Kangin’s office, knocking on the door. “Captain, we’ve got a problem.”

          “What is it?” Kangin asked, seeing how distraught the four were.

          “Cho Kyuhyun is still alive,” Donghae stated.

          Kangin’s eyes widened. “That’s impossible, how did he –” the Captain began.

          “We don’t know, but there’s clear footage of him in my apartment building yesterday evening, and I’m positive he was in the apartment with Sungmin,” Donghae replied.

          “Alright, go home and talk to your cousin, see if you can get him to tell you anything that might lead us to where Kyuhyun may be at,” Kangin instructed.

          “Sir, do you even think he’ll talk?” Seunghyun wondered. “I mean you saw how fucked up his mental state was after we rescued him.”

          “He’s got a point Captain, Sungmin’s still experiencing Stockholm syndrome, I don’t think he’d betray Kyuhyun so easily,” Changmin agreed.

          “Find a way; in the meantime, Siwon, Seunghyun, and Changmin, you three do a sweep of the Gangnam area within a twenty block radius of the apartment building and see if anyone has seen Kyuhyun lately; talk to bus drivers, restaurant workers, street vendors, hotel staff, anyone who may be able to identify him and give us a clue to his location,” Kangin ordered.

          “Yes sir,” the E.L.F. responded before heading out of the precinct doors.

           “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me it was him?!” Donghae demanded as soon as he opened the apartment door and saw his cousin in the living room.

          “What are you talking about?” Sungmin asked.

          “I saw the surveillance video Sungmin, I know Kyuhyun survived and that he was here yesterday,” Donghae informed.

          “He didn’t hurt me Donghae,” Sungmin muttered. “He just wanted to see me.”

          “Where is he Sungmin?” Donghae asked.

          “Kyuhyun left after we were intimate, he said he was going to get our new home ready,” Sungmin said.

          “Did he rape you again?” the brunette detective inquired.

          “Of course not, what we did was consensual, we love each other,” the blonde replied. “And whether you like it or not, we’re going to be together.”

          “Like hell you will,” Donghae retaliated. “I’m not letting that psychopath take you again.”

          “If he wants me, he can have me,” Sungmin stated. “I’m tired of being sad, I’m tired of going to doctors and taking pills that only cover up how I really feel, and I’m tired of listening to everyone call me a victim. I’m not a victim Donghae, I chose to love Kyuhyun; he didn’t force me to love him. I wanna be happy again, like I was with him last night. Don’t you want me to be happy Donghae?”

          Donghae was silent for a moment before sighing and responding “I want you to be safe Sungmin. That’s all I want for both you, and Hyukjae.”

          The blonde went into his room as Donghae entered his own bedroom where he found Hyukjae asleep on the bed. Sitting down on the edge, Donghae gently stroked Hyukjae’s blonde hair, watching him stir quietly from his slumber. “Donghae?” he mumbled.

          “It’s alright, I’m just checking in on you,” Donghae lied, not wanting to scare Hyukjae with news of Kyuhyun’s newfound existence.

          “I’m just taking a nap, I was still a little tired,” Hyukjae explained.

          “I know, you had a long night last night,” Donghae remembered, continuing to stroke Hyukjae’s hair. Ever since Donghae and Hyukjae had begun sharing a bed, Hyukjae’s night terrors had drastically decreased, since he knew Donghae was right there keeping him safe. But last night was different; Hyukjae had had a night terror so violent, that Donghae was forced to use one of the sedation syringes that the doctors had prescribed him in case of such an emergency. Luckily, Hyukjae managed to wake up and calm down enough to be comforted and soothed by Donghae, before falling back asleep in the brunette’s loving, protective embrace.

          “I’m sorry, I was doing so well lately,” Hyukjae apologized.

          Donghae shushed him gently, pressing a kiss to Hyukjae’s blonde hair. “You don’t have to apologize; I know it’s going to take a while for you to heal,” Donghae promised. “I have to get back to work now.”

          “Do you have to go?” Hyukjae whispered, holding Donghae’s hand against his face. “I don’t like it when you’re gone.”

          The detective smiled down at the blonde and responded “I know you don’t, but I’ll be home later.”

          As Donghae pressed another gentle kiss to Hyukjae’s head, Hyukjae muttered “Please be safe.”

          “I will, I promise,” Donghae replied, leaning their foreheads together for a brief moment.

          “Did you find anything out from your cousin?” Kangin questioned as Donghae reentered the precinct.

          “Sungmin does confirm that Kyuhyun was there and that they were intimate with one another. He also said something about Kyuhyun preparing a home for them,” Donghae informed. “He’s gotta be getting ready to take Sungmin again.”

          “What about you three, what’d you all find out?” Kangin wondered as he saw Siwon, Seunghyun, and Changmin come back in.

          “We canvased the entire twenty block radius, no one can positively identify seeing Kyuhyun yesterday,” Siwon stated.

          “He had to have left Gangnam immediately afterwards,” Changmin figured.

          “Well he couldn’t have gone back to his original hideout, it’s all ashes now,” Donghae reminded.

          “But didn’t Yesung tell us there was another location that Kyuhyun was going to take Sungmin to, and that’s how we knew where to cut them off at on the bridge?” Changmin asked.

          “Yeah, he did say that, but where did he say they were going?” Donghae inquired. “Oh my god, I fucking can’t remember.”

          “And it’s not like we can just ask him; one, he doesn’t remember, and two, there’s no way in hell he’d talk to us now,” Seunghyun added. “Especially with his trial next week.”

          “There’s gotta be someone else who knows,” Donghae guessed. “Someone who they told.”

          “Give me a second,” Changmin requested before opening up his desk drawer and reaching inside to retrieve a pack of Oreo cookies. “This is going to require a whole sleeve.”

          “Changmin, is this really an appropriate time?” Seunghyun wondered, watching his partner begin to eat the cookies.

          “Yes, I have to get the wheels turning,” Changmin responded as he continued munching on the snack.

          Seunghyun and Siwon looked at one another before Siwon muttered “He’s one of the most elite officers in all of Gangnam, and yet needs chocolate cookies in order to have an intelligent breakthrough.”

          “It is always easy to know what to get him for his birthday though,” Seunghyun jokingly remarked, causing Siwon to roll his eyes.

          After a few moments of thinking, and several Oreos later, Changmin jolted upright. “What about Sungmin’s therapist?” he asked.

          “That is a good theory, maybe Sungmin told him something about Kyuhyun,” Donghae agreed. “The only thing is that he may argue doctor-patient confidentiality.”

          “If it’s relevant to a criminal investigation, we’ll get a court order that overrides the confidentiality,” Siwon reminded.

          “I’m gonna go talk to Sungmin’s therapist, cover for me til I get back,” Donghae requested before heading out of the precinct once more.

          “Dr. Kim, Detective Lee Donghae is here to see you; he says it’s urgent,” the receptionist informed through the intercom.

          “Alright, please send him in,” Kibum replied. He looked up and saw the door open as Donghae walked inside. “Detective Lee, what can I do for you?”

          “I need to ask you some questions about Sungmin,” Donghae said.

          “Now detective, you know I can’t release any information about our sessions without a court order,” Kibum reminded.

          “Dr. Kim, my cousin is being pursued by Cho Kyuhyun, a psychopath who raped six people and tortured and murdered seven. He is going to come back and take Sungmin away unless I can find him and lock him up. Do you really want me to waste time with a court order when that psycho is out there? Kyuhyun knows where we live, he was with Sungmin yesterday after his session, he is dangerous and cares about no one but himself and my cousin,” Donghae explained. “There’s gotta be something you can tell me.”

          Kibum sat there silent for a moment, before nodding. “There is something I can offer,” he confirmed. “Without a court order, I cannot tell you anything Sungmin told me, but what I can do is offer him a safe haven.”

          “What are you talking about?’ Donghae wondered, before Kibum handed him a pamphlet.

          “Along with doing therapy sessions here, I also work at a mental hospital in Incheon, where in addition to therapy, I provide treatments to assist in patients healing. I think Sungmin would make a good addition to our facility, and I promise that Kyuhyun will not be able to find him, we have top notch security, and cameras in every room and all around the property; I can even cure him of his Stockholm syndrome,” Kibum informed.

          “You can cure him of that?” Donghae asked, scanning over the pamphlet.

          “I promise you that when I’m done with him, Sungmin will never have the desire to be with Kyuhyun again,” Kibum stated as a grin appeared across his lips.

          “Is he able to be involuntarily admitted?” Donghae inquired.

          “Yes, based on his last few sessions, and with the inclusion of you telling me he saw his kidnapper again last night and yet said nothing; Sungmin can be admitted due to impaired judgment based on his diagnosis of having Stockholm syndrome,” Kibum explained.

          “What, you’re telling me that my cousin is crazy?” Donghae demanded.

          “Of course not Detective Lee, all I’m saying is that Sungmin has been so psychologically damaged by Kyuhyun, that his mentality has been drastically altered, and he believes everything he feels is normal,” Kibum corrected.

          “And you’re sure this is a safe place?” Donghae asked.

          “Yes, I can assure you that I will personally keep a close eye on Sungmin. I’ll make sure he’s comfortable, but more importantly, I’ll make sure he’s cured,” Kibum promised.

          After thinking for a moment, Donghae nodded. “Alright, he can stay there until we find Kyuhyun, or until he’s mentally okay again,” he agreed.

          “Excellent,” Kibum said, with a smile growing across his face. “I do need you to sign this form, since you are caring for him at this time, stating that you agree to an involuntary admission under pretense of impaired, life-threatening judgment as a result of a medical diagnosis.”

          Donghae looked down at the form in front of him and sighed before setting pen to paper. “Just keep him hidden from that psychopath,” Donghae pleaded. “I love my cousin, and I want what’s best for him, promise me he’ll be safe.”

          “Don’t worry Detective Lee, Sungmin will receive the same loving treatment as my other patients,” Kibum confirmed. “I will come by your apartment later this evening with some workers from the facility and escort Sungmin there.” After Donghae nodded and left the room, Kibum looked down at the permission form and laughed quietly. “Although Sungmin, he will be getting the special treatment.”

          Upon returning back to the precinct, Changmin asked “Did you get anything out of the therapist?”

          “Not without a court order, which I honestly expected as much; however I did get Sungmin admitted into a mental institution for the time being,” Donghae informed.

          “Whoa, whoa, whoa, you what?” Seunghyun stopped.

          “Yeah, Dr. Kim works at a mental hospital in Incheon, and is willing to let Sungmin stay at the facility to continue his therapy while we search for Kyuhyun. It’s safe, out of Gangnam, highly secured, and it’ll give us an edge up on Kyuhyun,” Donghae explained.

          “How did Sungmin react to this?” Siwon inquired.

          “I haven’t told him yet,” Donghae said.

          Before they could discuss things further, Kangin called “Detectives.” The four turned and saw their Captain walking towards them. “Starting today, we have a new transfer who will be taking Yesung’s former place in our IT department, and will be aiding you in finding Kyuhyun’s whereabouts. This is Im Yoona, she was top of her class in the academy in Computer Analysis and has been briefed on the case at hand. Yoona, this is our subunit E.L.F.; Detectives Choi Siwon, Lee Donghae, Choi Seunghyun, and Shim Changmin.”

          “Nice to meet you Yoona,” Donghae said as the brunette officer shook hands with the female.

          “Likewise,” Yoona replied with a smile. She turned and added “It’s nice to see you again Seunghyun.”

          “Yeah, how’ve you been?” Seunghyun asked nervously, causing the other three detectives to look at one another confused.

          “Very well, thank you,” Yoona stated. “Good to see you again too Changmin.” Siwon and Donghae watched the dark brunette detective smile at Yoona and wave at her. “I see you are still partners.”

          “Yeah, listen, would you maybe wanna –” Seunghyun started.

          Yoona held her hand up to pause the detective. “Our relationship is one hundred percent professional now, and you know that,” she firmly reminded, causing Seunghyun to sigh.

          “Let me show you to your desk so you can get adjusted before starting on the case,” Kangin offered as he led Yoona over to the IT desks on the opposite end of the precinct.

          As soon as they were out of earshot range, Siwon asked “I’m guessing you two have history?”

          “Oh yeah,” Seunghyun confirmed. “We were in the academy together for a couple of years, I was in my third year and she was in her first; I was assigned to help mentor her during her first year of basic training, and that soon led to us being more than just junior and senior officers to one another. We dated for a few years, even after leaving the academy, but she became more focused on her computer work and I was always doing field work, so we just drifted apart; she transferred to a different department, and I only saw her occasionally when Changmin and I were out on the job.”

          “I’m guessing the Captain doesn’t know,” Donghae figured.

          “No one besides Changmin and now you two know,” Seunghyun informed. “Yoona was strict about us being private and remaining professional at work, so no one ever knew. But man, she’s a hell of a woman and an even better cop.”

          After his shift ended, Donghae rushed back to the apartment to find both Sungmin and Hyukjae in the living room. “Sungmin, there’s something I need to tell you,” Donghae said as he muted the TV.

          “What is it?” Sungmin wondered.

          “Is everything okay?” Hyukjae added, nervous about Donghae’s tone.

          “Everything’s fine,” Donghae promised, sitting down next to Hyukjae, across the way from Sungmin. “I went to talk to your therapist today, and –”

          “Why the hell would you talk to Dr. Kim?” Sungmin interrupted.

          “Because you’ve been giving me the cold shoulder,” Donghae replied. “Dr. Kim has agreed to let you stay at the facility where he works at in Incheon until –”

          “No!” Sungmin yelled as he shot up. “You’re not sending me away to some nuthouse just because you don’t want me and Kyuhyun to be together!”

          Hyukjae’s eyes widened. “Donghae, what’s he talking about?” he muttered.

          “Oh he didn’t tell you? Kyuhyun is alive and was here with me last night,” Sungmin informed. “We made love and he promised to come get me and take me away forever after he got our new home ready; he promised to take care of me and love me.”

          “Sungmin, you don’t have a choice anymore. You’re being involuntarily admitted because your judgment has become so fucked up, that you willingly slept with the psychopath who kidnapped and raped you,” Donghae remarked.

          Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Donghae stepped over and looked through the peephole before opening the door to reveal Kibum with a couple of white clad male nurses. “Hello Detective Lee, we are here to collect Sungmin,” Kibum said.

          Donghae stepped over to his blonde cousin and muttered “Sungmin, you have to go with them, just for a little while, just until we find Kyuhyun; they’re going to keep you safe.”

          Sungmin shook his head as tears formed in his eyes. “No, they’re not taking me, I have to wait for Kyuhyun!” the blonde rejected. The two nurses approached Sungmin and managed to grab ahold of his flailing arms before one injected medicine into the blonde’s forearm. “No, no, Donghae don’t let them take me, don’t let them –” Sungmin begged before the drug took effect and knocked out Sungmin, rendering him limp and unconscious.

          The male nurses carried Sungmin out of the apartment as Kibum grinned at the blonde before looking at Donghae. “Thank you detective, we’ll be in contact,” Kibum stated before leaving the apartment.

          Donghae stood there frozen, tears glistening in his eyes. He turned to look at Hyukjae who was curled up on the couch crying quietly. “It’s alright Hyukjae, everything’s okay,” Donghae promised, as he sat down next to the blonde.

          “Why, why didn’t you tell me Kyuhyun was still alive?” Hyukjae cried as he latched onto Donghae and sobbed into the brunette’s chest.

          Donghae shushed him gently, wrapping his arms around the distraught blonde. “I’m sorry Hyukjae, I just didn’t want you to be scared,” Donghae whispered, pressing a kiss to Hyukjae’s hair.

          “Will Sungmin be alright?” Hyukjae wondered.

          “He’ll be fine, Dr. Kim has promised me he’ll take good care of Sungmin,” Donghae replied. Still feeling Hyukjae tremble, Donghae hushed him again, stroking his face. “It’s okay, everything will be okay,” he repeated.

          As the nurses drove to the hospital in Incheon, Kibum sat in the back looking at the passed out Sungmin. He licked his lips before trailing his fingers along Sungmin’s milky flesh. Kibum then allowed some of Sungmin’s blonde hair strands to slip through his fingertips as he touched Sungmin’s head. “I see why Kyuhyun took interest in you,” Kibum muttered to the unconscious Korean as an evil grin crept across his face. “You _are_ irresistible.”


	3. Chapter 3

          _*Five days later*_        

          With Sungmin now in the protective custody of Dr. Kim at the Incheon Mental Facility, Donghae rested easier, knowing his cousin was safe and hidden from Kyuhyun. He awoke that morning and smiled at the blonde sleeping next to him, gently stroking his fingertips over Hyukjae’s bangs. Hyukjae moaned quietly before opening his eyes to see the blurry outline of Donghae. “Good morning,” Donghae whispered, placing a chaste kiss on Hyukjae’s head.

          “Good morning,” Hyukjae echoed before turning over to reach for his glasses. Slipping on the thick-rimmed frames, Hyukjae took a better look at Donghae as the brunette detective sat up and sighed. “Is everything alright?” Hyukjae wondered, sitting up as well, resting a hand against Donghae’s back.

          “Yesung’s trial is in two days, and I’m still pissed that Prosecutor Lee is forcing you to testify in court,” Donghae revealed. “I told her that you’ve been through enough, and I didn’t want you, or the others for that matter, to be retraumatized by reliving everything that happened.” He looked over at the blonde and stroked his hand across Hyukjae’s cheek, adding “I don’t want you to hurt more than you have to.”

          Hyukjae smiled at Donghae, placing his own hand on the detective’s face, replying “You’ve been so good to me over the past few weeks Donghae, if it wasn’t for you, I don’t know how I would’ve coped with everything that’s happened.”

          The two pressed their foreheads together before Donghae suggested “I could call in sick today and stay home with you.”

          Hyukjae laughed quietly before reminding “I appreciate that, but don’t you have to help prepare for the upcoming trial?”

          Donghae sighed. “Yeah, you’re right,” he agreed. “I’ve gotta get Kim Ryeowook squared away, check and see if Sungmin will be able to give a statement, and then ask the Prosecutor to give me a list of what questions she’s going to ask so we can go over them here. But after this trial is over, I’m taking a few days off so I can stay home and fully take care of you.” The blonde grinned as he and Donghae looked at one another. Donghae removed Hyukjae’s glasses and placed his hands on the blonde’s face as he looked into Hyukjae’s eyes, feeling his heart pound faster as he lost himself in Hyukjae’s gaze. “Hyukjae, I –” Donghae began before his phone rang out loudly through the silent apartment.

          The brunette detective reached for his phone and answered “Detective Lee.” After a few minutes of conversation, Donghae hung up the phone and looked at Hyukjae. “I’ve gotta get to the courthouse, but I’ll be back as soon as trial prep is done,” he promised, running his hand through Hyukjae’s hair.

          “It’s okay, I understand,” Hyukjae remarked.

          “I wanna talk to you about something when I get back, okay?” Donghae informed.

          “Did I do something wrong?” Hyukjae nervously asked.

          “No, no, you haven’t done anything wrong,” Donghae replied with a smile before standing up out of bed. When Donghae had finished getting ready, he walked into the kitchen and retrieved Hyukjae’s daily medication and a glass of juice for the blonde before returning to their bedroom. “Here’s your medicine.”

          “Thank you Donghae,” Hyukjae said before swallowing the pills with a sip of his juice.

          “You sure you’ll be okay by yourself?” Donghae wondered, watching Hyukjae drink a little more of the juice.

          “Yes, I’ll be fine, I’ll probably just stay in bed until you get back,” Hyukjae responded.

          “Okay, I’ll see you in a few hours,” Donghae promised before kissing the top of Hyukjae’s blonde hair and leaving the apartment, locking the door behind him. Immediately, Donghae headed for the Gangnam Courthouse. When he arrived, Donghae walked into the appropriate, empty courtroom where Prosecutor Lee Ji-eun was doing a pretrial rehearsal with Ryeowook on the stand. Seeing Changmin in the observer’s gallery, Donghae joined his fellow officer and friend. “What’d I miss?” he inquired.

          “Not much, Prosecutor Lee wants to work with you and me before lunch before questioning Siwon and Seunghyun afterwards,” Changmin informed. “However, she’s also working with Kim Ryeowook on his witness testimony, but that’s going about as expected. Any word from your cousin?”

          “Dr. Kim told me he’s still adjusting, but promised to send us Sungmin’s written statement on what happened by the time the trial begins,” Donghae explained.

          “What about Lee Hyukjae? How’s he holding up?” Changmin asked.

          “He’s healing, and that’s the most important thing, but I know it’s gonna take time. Hyukjae has been through so much Changmin, and all I want is for him to get better, but yet I also want him to want me. Is that weird?” Donghae wondered. 

          “I think you’re becoming attached to him and he’s doing the same with you,” Changmin stated. “I know you two care for each other, I could sense it even when we first met him in the hospital. The way he opened up to you and trusted you, that’s something special.” Donghae smiled before nodding in agreement with Changmin.

          Back at the apartment, Hyukjae had fallen back asleep, but was awaken by the sound of a knock on the door. Groaning, the blonde sat up and retrieved his glasses from the bedside table, before standing up and heading towards the front door of the apartment. He looked through the peephole, but saw no one there, which he found to be strange. Curious, Hyukjae slowly opened the apartment door and peered outside into the hallway, but found it to be vacant as well. Shrugging his shoulders, Hyukjae closed the door back before heading back to bed. Sitting down on the bed, Hyukjae removed his glasses and reached for the cup of juice still on the nightstand, swallowing the rest. Realizing he needed more, Hyukjae stood up to retrieve more from the kitchen, not bothering with his glasses, since he knew how to navigate to the kitchen and could see just enough to prepare another glass.

          Hyukjae blindly walked through the apartment, and reached into the refrigerator, opening it up to find a large, orange blur and knew it was the juice carton. As Hyukjae unscrewed the lid of the carton, he was unaware of the apartment door creeping open slowly. The blonde drank down some of his juice, before hearing light footsteps moving around the apartment. Turning, Hyukjae asked “Hello? Donghae?”

          Silence resonated in the apartment as Hyukjae squinted, trying to see if he could make out anyone. Suddenly, Hyukjae saw a blurry image move into his line of vision, coming from the direction of the bedrooms. “Donghae?” Hyukjae repeated. The blurry figure said nothing, confusing Hyukjae. “Is everything okay? What are you doing back from work so early?”

          The blonde froze when he heard the figure say in a low voice “You know, you should really learn to lock your front door.”

          Hyukjae immediately recognized that sound as Kyuhyun’s voice, and felt his blood turn ice cold. He was so terrified that he couldn’t even move as Kyuhyun advanced towards him, causing Hyukjae to drop his glass on the ground, hearing it shatter against the tiled floor. Hyukjae tried to run from the kitchen, only to be grabbed by Kyuhyun and flung down on the ground. The dark brunette Korean climbed on top of Hyukjae, pinning him down on the ground, listening to the blonde cry and plead “No, please no, please don’t! Donghae, Donghae!” He screamed for the detective, but to no avail.

          “Where’s my Minnie?” Kyuhyun questioned as he leaned close to Hyukjae.

          He was so close now that Hyukjae could make out the details of Kyuhyun’s face. “I-I don’t know,” Hyukjae cried, turning his head away from Kyuhyun’s.

          The blonde whimpered as Kyuhyun grabbed his throat and started to squeeze. “Don’t you fucking lie to me,” Kyuhyun growled. “Where is Minnie?”

          Kyuhyun loosened his grip on Hyukjae’s neck and heard the blonde cough and gasp for breath before sobbing “I swear I don’t know.”

          The dark brunette Korean reached over and grabbed a large piece of glass from the shattered cup and started lightly prodding the shard against Hyukjae’s trembling throat, and muttered “You have three seconds to tell me where he is, or I will finish what I started with you.”

          Scraping the glass over Hyukjae’s Adam’s apple, the blonde slowly revealed “D-Donghae sent him away to a h-hospital in Incheon. I s-swear that’s all I know.”

          Kyuhyun seemed to believe Hyukjae because the blonde felt the glass be removed from his skin. “Where is the cop?” Kyuhyun questioned.

          “H-He’s getting ready for trial in t-two days,” Hyukjae said.

          “Whose trial?” Kyuhyun inquired.

          “Y-your friend,” Hyukjae sobbed. “B-but he doesn’t remember a-anything.”

          Kyuhyun’s eyes widened; so Yesung was also still alive, but had managed to get captured, and if it was true that he didn’t remember anything, then Kyuhyun knew he could use that to his advantage. “Now you listen to me,” Kyuhyun instructed, leaning in close to Hyukjae, feeling the blonde quiver in fear underneath him. “Tell the cop that if I don’t have my Minnie back in twenty four hours, then I will take away everything he cares about, and I’ll start with you.” Hyukjae clenched his eyes shut tightly as Kyuhyun whispered into his ear, “I’ll make sure he watches as I slowly break you piece by piece until nothing is left.”

          Standing up slowly, Kyuhyun looked on the countertop of the kitchen and saw the remaining syringes filled with sedation medicine and quickly pocketed them before looking back down at Hyukjae. “Don’t you fucking move or even think about calling for help,” he threatened. “And don’t forget what I told you.” After hearing the apartment door slam shut again, Hyukjae curled up into the fetal position and let his sobs fill the empty apartment; he was too scared to move or do anything, all he wanted was Donghae. The blonde clutched his chest as his crying caused his lungs to burn. Closing his eyes, Hyukjae lie there and felt his tears splash onto the tile floor underneath him.

          “Detective Lee, here are a list of questions that I need you to go over with Lee Hyukjae before the trial,” Ji-eun instructed, handing Donghae a list of questions that she had prepared. “Make sure and bring him in at least an hour early on trial day so we can go over some last minute things. And don’t forget to make sure Lee Sungmin’s statement is faxed to me by tomorrow.”

          “Okay,” Donghae agreed before turning to Changmin.

          “So what now?” he asked.

          “Well it’s my lunch break now, so I’m gonna go check on Hyukjae and then head back to the precinct,” Donghae replied.

          “I think I’ll head back and see if the others wanna go on lunch break too,” Changmin figured. “See you in a couple of hours.”

          “Alright,” Donghae said as he smiled at his fellow detective.

          Returning to the apartment, Donghae opened the door and immediately heard a soft “Donghae?”

          The brunette detective closed the door and hurried into the kitchen where he found Hyukjae lying on the tiled floor still, curled up and obviously terrified of something. “Hyukjae,” Donghae worriedly said, kneeling down next to the blonde. He pulled Hyukjae into his embrace, feeling Hyukjae take a hold of his arm. “What happened?”

          “H-he, he was here,” Hyukjae sobbed.

          Donghae’s eyes widened, knowing that Hyukjae was referring to Kyuhyun; that could be the only explanation for this kind of reaction. “C’mon,” Donghae gently urged, as he stood up and helped Hyukjae to his feet, leading him over to the couch. Sliding his arms around Hyukjae, Donghae felt the blonde relax his trembling body in Donghae’s embrace as he shushed Hyukjae quietly, stroking his fingertips through the blonde’s hair. “Did he hurt you?” Donghae asked.

          Hyukjae nodded. “He held glass to my throat and made me tell him where Sungmin was,” the blonde informed. He glanced up at Donghae and began crying harder as he added “I told him that Sungmin was in Incheon, but that was it, I didn’t know anything specific; I’m sorry Donghae, I’m so sorry, I was just so scared.”

          The blonde buried his face in Donghae’s neck and sobbed as Donghae hushed him gently, wrapping his arms tighter around Hyukjae. “It’s alright, you did nothing wrong, it’s okay, you’re safe now,” he promised, lightly pressing a kiss to Hyukjae’s head.

          “He told me that if he didn’t get Sungmin back by tomorrow, then he would destroy everything you cared about, and he would start with me, and would force you to watch as he killed me,” Hyukjae explained as tears dripped from his eyes onto Donghae’s chest.

          “That’s never going to happen, okay?” Donghae promised. “I won’t let him touch you again.”

          “I screamed for you, but you never came, I was so scared,” Hyukjae sobbed, feeling Donghae’s embrace hold him close.

          “I’m sorry Hyukjae, I’m so sorry that happened to you. It was my fault, I should’ve never left you alone, I should’ve stayed home with you today,” Donghae apologized as tears welled in his own eyes.

          “You’re here now, that’s all that matters, you’re here,” Hyukjae whispered, looking up at the brunette.

          “Maybe I should let you stay in the Gangnam Hospital for a few days, I don’t want Kyuhyun to hurt you if he comes back,” Donghae suggested.

          “No, please no,” Hyukjae rejected, holding onto Donghae tightly. “I don’t wanna be away from you, I feel safer when I’m with you; I don’t trust anyone else.”

          Donghae placed his hands on Hyukjae’s face and shushed him once more before replying “Okay, but only if you’re sure. I want you to feel safe.”

          “And I do when you’re here,” Hyukjae responded. The two looked at one another for a few moments as Donghae stroked his thumb across Hyukjae’s cheek. “What did you want to talk to me about earlier?” he curiously wondered, remembering what Donghae had said that morning.

          The brunette grinned before he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Hyukjae’s lips, as the two shared their first kiss. Not knowing how emotionally prepared Hyukjae was, Donghae decided to lightly kiss the blonde, to see what his reaction would be. Donghae felt Hyukjae lean more into the kiss before they parted their lips to take a breath. Pressing their foreheads together, Donghae whispered “I love you Hyukjae.”

          Hyukjae smiled as more tears escaped his eyes, causing Donghae to brush them away gently. “I love you too Donghae,” the blonde echoed, looking into the brunette’s eyes. Donghae exhaled with relief before the two kissed once more.

          Meanwhile, at the Gangnam Jail, an officer called “Kim Jong-woon, you have another visitor.”

          Yesung was led to the visitation room and told to sit in the second cubicle. The minute he sat down and picked up the phone, Yesung looked up and felt his mouth drop open. “They told me you were dead,” he stated.

          “Not dead, just injured,” Kyuhyun corrected. “I heard you can’t remember anything that happened.”

          “No, the last thing I remember is seeing scars on Ryeowook’s body, and then waking up in a hospital room. Doctors called it retrograde amnesia and said it could take weeks for my memory to come back,” Yesung explained.

          Perfect, Kyuhyun thought to himself. “Do you still remember working at the precinct?” Kyuhyun wondered. “Can you recall how to hack into a database?”

          “Oh yeah, I still remember all of that,” Yesung confirmed. “Why do you ask?”

          “Because you and I have unfinished business to take care of,” Kyuhyun said.

          “How do we take care of it?” Yesung asked.

          “Well first things first, we have to find a way to get you out of here,” Kyuhyun stated. “And I think I know just how to do it.” Yesung grinned as he leaned in closer to listen to his friend’s plan.


	4. Chapter 4

          Later that night, Donghae was awoken from his sleep by Hyukjae mumbling his name repeatedly. Looking at the blonde, Donghae gently placed his hands on Hyukjae’s face and called to him softly. “Hyukjae, it’s alright, wake up, it’s just a dream,” he whispered. The blonde’s eyes shot open as he stared at Donghae for several seconds before Donghae raked his fingers through Hyukjae’s hair and continued “It’s okay, I’m right here, it’s okay.”

          Hyukjae moved closer to Donghae and buried his face in the brunette’s neck, sobbing as Donghae wrapped his arms around the distraught blonde and shushed him lovingly. Donghae knew that because of the incident with Kyuhyun a few hours earlier, that Hyukjae was bound to have another night terror, and Donghae was right. He blamed himself for letting it happen, knowing that if he’d been there, he could’ve kept Hyukjae safe. Donghae apologized countless times to Hyukjae, even though the blonde told him it wasn’t his fault. Feeling Hyukjae tremble in his arms, Donghae stroked his face and pressed their foreheads together, before hearing Hyukjae mutter “I love you.”

          Donghae lightly kissed the blonde’s lips, echoing “I love you too.”

          The next day, Donghae took a personal day off from work to stay home with Hyukjae. With Yesung’s trial less than twenty four hours away, and Kyuhyun’s threat to come back, Donghae wasn’t about to leave Hyukjae alone again. They spent the whole day going over trial prep like the Prosecution had asked, and Donghae noticed that some of the questions that Hyukjae had to answer were very disturbing and seemed to really make Hyukjae uncomfortable. “Why does she want me to describe everything that happened? I want to forget it all,” the blonde wondered, placing his hands on various wounds that plagued him.

          “I know you do,” Donghae consoled as he lightly rubbed the back of Hyukjae’s neck. “I know it’s hard for you to do this, but I’ll be right there in the courtroom if you need me.” Hyukjae smiled at Donghae before leaning his head against the brunette’s shoulder.

          Later that evening, after Hyukjae’s bath, Donghae began to rub on a special cream that the doctors had prescribed Hyukjae for his staple wounds on his back. Donghae lightly traced his fingertips over the healing scars and thought back several weeks ago to when he first laid eyes on the wounds. The brunette felt Hyukjae shiver slightly as his fingers continued their airy dance around his back. Leaning forward, Donghae brushed his lips over Hyukjae’s shoulder before kissing his skin, earning a surprised gasp from the blonde. Hearing that caused Donghae to allow his lips to glide over to Hyukjae’s neck, where he began kissing at the tender skin gently, while his hands traveled down to Hyukjae’s waist. The blonde closed his eyes as he felt Donghae kiss him and moaned quietly before turning to look at the brunette. Donghae softly took Hyukjae’s face in his hands and kissed his lips lovingly, while moving on top of Hyukjae, pushing the blonde down on their bed. As Donghae hovered over Hyukjae and began to kiss at his neck again, the blonde’s mind suddenly triggered back to when he was being kept in the warehouse and the image of Kyuhyun on top of him, violating him, flooded his memory, causing Hyukjae to scream out “No!” All of a sudden, Donghae was caught off guard as he was flipped so that now Hyukjae was on top of him, pinning his wrists down against the bed. The blonde panted angrily before he noticed that it was Donghae underneath him; seeing Donghae’s expression caused Hyukjae to immediately cower back and start to cry quietly.

          Donghae cautiously crawled over to the other side of the bed and quietly whispered “I’m sorry Hyukjae, I shouldn’t have done that to you, knowing what you’ve been through; I’m very sorry.”

          Hyukjae shook his head as he moved closer to Donghae and leaned against him, feeling the brunette gently slip his arms around his fragile body. “No, I should be the one apologizing Donghae, I’m the one who’s being difficult to love,” he muttered.

          “You are not difficult to love Hyukjae,” Donghae promised, wrapping the blonde in a warm embrace. “I had a moment of weakness and I’m sorry, I should’ve never taken advantage of you like that. I’m not gonna do anything that makes you uncomfortable, especially while you heal; I don’t wanna trigger anymore bad memories for you. Right now, it seems this is what you respond to best, when I hold you like this.”

          “I feel safest when you hold me,” Hyukjae replied, burying his face in Donghae’s chest.

          “I’m glad you do,” Donghae whispered. That night, Hyukjae was terrified to sleep, scared that Kyuhyun was going to break into the apartment again and kill him. After some gentle and persuasive lulling from Donghae, Hyukjae eventually did fall asleep. Donghae however, stayed wide awake sitting up in bed, with Hyukjae’s head resting on his lap. The detective watched the door all night, just to make Hyukjae feel safe while he slept; he looked down at Hyukjae and stroked his fingertips over the blonde’s bangs before resting his hand against Hyukjae’s back. Donghae looked at his service gun sitting on the bedside table and muttered “C’mon back you son of a bitch, I fucking dare you; I’ll be waiting.”

          The next morning, Donghae and Hyukjae joined the others at the Gangnam Courthouse for Yesung’s trial. They joined Changmin, Siwon, Seunghyun, Kangin, and Ryeowook in the observer’s gallery behind the Prosecutor’s side of the courtroom. Soon, other curious people filled the gallery as well, including the jurors. Seeing all the people, Hyukjae felt his breath grow shaky. “Don’t be scared, I’m right here,” Donghae whispered, placing his hand lightly on Hyukjae’s leg.

          “How’s he holding up?” Changmin muttered from a few seats down.

          The others turned to Donghae as the brunette detective answered “He’s nervous, but I know he can do this.”

          The detectives watched as Prosecutor Lee Ji-eun turned to look at them from her podium. “Look alive gentlemen, this isn’t the day for any fuck-ups,” she stated under her breath.

          “We know what to do Counselor, this isn’t our first rodeo when it comes to testifying,” Kangin firmly reminded. “My detectives are more than capable of providing accurate statements for the Prosecution.”

          “Well that’s wonderful Captain, but I just hope the witnesses do the same,” Ji-eun remarked, turning her gaze to Ryeowook and Hyukjae.

          Before Donghae could say something in Hyukjae’s defense, they all saw one of the side doors to the room open and in walk the Defense attorney, followed by two court officers who were escorting Yesung in. “Look at him, bastard thinks he did nothing wrong,” Seunghyun quietly commented, noting that Yesung seemed expressionless as he sat down on the Defense’s side of the courtroom.

          After the Judge entered and announced that the trial was beginning, he allowed Prosecutor Ji-eun to call her first witness. “The People call Kim Ryeowook to the stand, your honor,” she said. The brunette swallowed before slowly standing up. He was escorted to the witness stand by a court officer, and sat down, almost immediately looking over to make eye contact with Yesung. The raven haired Korean smiled at him, causing Ryeowook to smile back, before averting his gaze as Ji-eun approached him. “Mr. Kim, how do you know the Defendant, Kim Jong-woon?”

          Ryeowook looked up at the Prosecutor and started “He took me away from –”

          “You mean he kidnapped you,” Ji-eun corrected.

          “That’s how you define it, but it’s not how I see it,” Ryeowook remarked.

          “And how do you define it?” Ji-eun wondered.

          “Yesung rescued me,” Ryeowook informed, before glancing over at Yesung. “I was being abused and he rescued me and took me to his home to keep me safe.”

          “Where he and his accomplice kept you and fellow hostage Lee Sungmin locked in a room for approximately a week, is that correct?” Ji-eun asked.

          “Well yes, we were locked up, but –” Ryeowook confirmed.

          Ji-eun wouldn’t let Ryeowook continue as she interrupted “Is it not also true that while you were being held hostage, that you saw Mr. Kim get violent?”

          Ryeowook swallowed again. “It was never towards me,” he said.

          Prosecutor Lee walked back to her podium and picked up a piece of paper, holding it up, stating “The People would like to present ‘Evidence 1’. This is a written and signed deposition from Lee Sungmin, who is currently recovering from severe Stockholm syndrome in a rehabilitation center following the traumatic events that befell him. He recalls an incident where Kim Jong-woon became violent with his co-criminal Cho Kyuhyun and remembers, ‘Yesung threw Kyuhyun down and started to roughly punch him in the face repeatedly. He then looked up and saw me and Ryeowook standing nearby and grabbed me, before burning me in multiple places with his lighter.’ Now is what Lee Sungmin saying true?”

          “But Kyuhyun –” Ryeowook began.

          “A simple yes or no will do Mr. Kim,” Prosecutor Ji-eun harshly said. “Is what Lee Sungmin wrote true?”

          Ryeowook lowered his head and replied “Yes.” The word felt like vinegar on his tongue, and he couldn’t even look at Yesung.

          “Now, Mr. Kim, you claim that the Defendant kidnapped you to keep you safe, but are you aware of the other victims that were before you?” Ji-eun questioned.

          “No, I never knew there were others until after the police found us,” Ryeowook explained. “But Yesung was never violent with me, he was kind and gentle.”

          Ji-eun walked over to a large easel and picked up a giant, blown up photo of what appeared to be injuries. “The People’s ‘Evidence 2 thru 6’ your honor, the injuries of the victims of Mr. Kim and Mr. Cho,” Ji-eun stated. The observers began to quietly gasp and murmur as they gazed at the gory and graphic display of gruesome torture before them. Ryeowook refused to look at the pictures, but he did hear Ji-eun say “Take a good look Mr. Kim; the Defendant helped torture and burn those people to death, and you have the gall to sit there and try to convince the jury that the Defendant is a kind and compassionate human being? He’s a psychotic pyromaniac Mr. Kim, and he would’ve killed you, had he been given enough time.”

          “Objection,” the Defense attorney called from his podium.

          “Withdrawn,” Prosecutor Lee said, eyes still fixated on Ryeowook.

          “You don’t know him like I do,” Ryeowook argued.

          “I know a criminal when I see one, why can’t you?” Ji-eun asked. Tears were glistening in Ryeowook’s eyes as he looked over at the raven haired Korean. He didn’t want to believe what the Prosecution was telling him, he didn’t want to believe the pictures of the past victims. “No more questions for this witness.”

          “Counselor, would you like to cross-examine?” the Judge inquired, looking over at the Defense.

          “Yes your honor,” he agreed, standing up. He approached Ryeowook and said “I just have one question, after hearing all of this and seeing the pictures, what are your feelings towards my client?”

          Yesung and Ryeowook locked eyes again as tears slipped down Ryeowook’s cheeks. “I wanna be with him,” he whispered, earning a genuine smile from Yesung.

          “Why is that?” the Defense wondered.

          “Yesung took care of me, he brought me food and clothes, and gave me a bed, and made me feel so safe and loved. He’s not a monster, he never did one thing to hurt me,” Ryeowook explained.

          “Thank you Mr. Kim, no more questions,” the Defense rested, returning to his podium.

          Ryeowook didn’t break his gaze from Yesung as the brunette was led back to his seat in the observer’s gallery. “The People would like to call their next witness Lee Hyukjae to the stand,” Ji-eun continued. Hyukjae swallowed roughly before feeling Donghae’s hand on his back as he stood up and too was led to the witness box. Sitting down, Hyukjae was wary of accidentally looking over at Yesung, so he tried to keep his focus on either Donghae or the Prosecutor. “Now Mr. Lee, not counting the two hostages that the Gangnam police rescued, you were the only surviving victim to Mr. Kim and Mr. Cho’s horrendous acts of torture, is that correct?” Ji-eun asked.

          “Yes,” Hyukjae agreed.

          “How did you fall victim to them?” Ji-eun questioned.

          “They ordered me as an Uber driver and asked me to take them home, but then they knocked me out and when I woke up, I was tied up in a warehouse,” Hyukjae slowly explained.

          Prosecutor Lee then walked back over to the easel and placed another enlarged photo on it. “The People’s ‘Evidence 7’, these are photos taken by doctors at Gangnam Emergency Hospital of Mr. Lee’s obtained injuries. Here we see large bruises and second degree burn marks on his chest and sides,” Ji-eun reported before switching pictures. “The People’s ‘Evidence 8-12’, staple wounds on his back, bleach-stained eyes, and numerous cuts and gashes ranging in various sizes.” Donghae began to shift in his chair, noticing how upset Hyukjae was at seeing the pictures. “Mr. Lee, can you please explain to the court how you obtained these injuries.”

          Hyukjae sat there quietly for a moment, feeling embarrassment and shame flood him as everyone looked at him, waiting for him to inform them of his trauma. “After I woke up, he began to tell me I was okay and that he’d missed me,” Hyukjae started.

          “By ‘he’ do you mean the Defendant or his accomplice?” Ji-eun wondered.

          “His accomplice,” Hyukjae informed.

          “So what did Mr. Cho do after he said these things to you?” Prosecutor Lee inquired. Hyukjae became frozen as the memories invaded his thoughts. The blonde looked down as Ji-eun said “Mr. Lee, I will ask again, what did Mr. Cho do to you after you woke up?”

          “H-he, he –” Hyukjae started before starting to softly cry. “He raped me over and over and over and over.”

          Donghae wanted nothing more than to jump up, take Hyukjae in his arms, and comfort him, but all he could do was shift restlessly in his chair. “What caused these injuries?” Ji-eun questioned, pointing to the picture of Hyukjae’s damaged torso.

          “After he raped me, he hung me up by my wrists and –” the blonde had to pause again to catch his breath and swallow down his sobs. “He started cutting me everywhere; if I screamed, he would hit me.”

          “And these?” Ji-eun continued, switching back to the pictures of Hyukjae’s other wounds.

          “When he was done, that’s when the other one –” Hyukjae began.

          “By the other one, you’re referring to the Defendant, Kim Jong-woon?” Prosecutor Lee checked.

          “Yes,” Hyukjae confirmed. “He burned me and shocked me and he wouldn’t stop. I begged both of them to just kill me, but they wouldn’t, they just –” Hyukjae lowered his head and let his sobs fill the courtroom. Looking up, through blurry tears Hyukjae said “I can’t do this anymore, I can’t, Donghae, Donghae I can’t.”

          The two locked eyes as the brunette officer stood up. The people began to murmur to themselves as the Judge banged his gavel and stated “That is enough for Mr. Lee’s testimony; we’ll conclude for the day and pick up tomorrow morning.” The gavel banged once more and Donghae immediately rushed up to the witness box and placed his hands gently on Hyukjae’s face, attempting to help him calm down.

          “I’m sorry, Donghae I’m sorry, I just can’t do this anymore,” Hyukjae cried as he leaned his head against the officer’s.

          Donghae shushed him gently, whispering “It’s okay, I’m gonna take you home now.”

          He helped Hyukjae stand up and walk down out of the witness box. As they walked past Ji-eun, the Prosecutor started to say “Detective Lee, I need –”

          “No,” Donghae harshly interrupted. “I don’t give a fuck what you want right now. You made him relive everything after I told you he wasn’t ready; I’m taking him home, you can go rot in Hell for all I care.” Donghae didn’t even wait for Ji-eun to reply as he continued to lead the distraught blonde out of the courtroom. As he did, no one seemed to be aware that Yesung and Ryeowook were still looking at one another as Yesung was escorted out by the court officers.

          Inside the Incheon Mental Institution, Sungmin returned to his room after finishing lunch, when there was a knock at the door. “Yes?” he called.

          Inside walked Dr. Kim, informing “Sungmin, starting tomorrow, I’m going to start you on a new therapy that will help you better get over Kyuhyun and move on with your life.”

          “But I don’t want to get over Kyuhyun, I love him,” Sungmin rejected.

          “You were manipulated into loving him, and you can be manipulated not to love him, I’ll help you,” Kibum promised, lightly placing a hand on Sungmin’s back.

          “Doctor, I really just want to go home, when’s Donghae coming?” Sungmin wondered.

          Kibum smirked. “Sungmin, you’ve been here a week already, I figured you would’ve been adjusted by now. And your cousin is not coming to get you anytime soon,” he stated.

          “What?” Sungmin asked.

          Pulling a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket, Kibum unfolded it and showed Sungmin. “Detective Lee has signed the institution legal guardianship over you until your mental state is mended. You are in my legal care until I deem you fit for release.”

          Sungmin read the paper in horror, shocked that Donghae would do something like this to him. “No, this has to be a mistake, Donghae wouldn’t do this to me,” Sungmin argued.

          “Oh but he would,” Kibum said. “Detective Lee thinks you need to be fixed, and I’m going to do just that to you with your new therapy sessions.” He placed his hand on Sungmin’s thigh, feeling the blonde flinch before continuing “Once I’m finished with you, the mere thought of Cho Kyuhyun will absolutely disgust you.” Sungmin nervously looked at his doctor as a smile grew across Kibum’s face.

          Later that night inside Donghae and Hyukjae’s apartment, the two were sleeping soundly in bed when Donghae’s phone began vibrating against the bedside table. The brunette detective groaned as he opened his eyes and reached over to grab his phone. “Detective Lee,” he answered in a sleepy whisper.

          “Hey, the Captain wanted me to call you, you’ve gotta turn the TV on man,” Changmin said.

          “Why, what’s up?” Donghae wondered as he pulled himself away from Hyukjae and stood up, heading into the living room.

          “Just look,” Changmin urged.

          Donghae grabbed the remote and turned the TV on to see a breaking news report. Turning up the volume, Donghae heard the news anchor announce “A riot broke out earlier tonight in Gangnam Jail that has left several inmates and prisoners dead and even more injured. After the prisoners were contained, it was discovered that prisoner Kim Jong-woon was unaccounted for and has allegedly escaped. Kim is currently being tried for the serial killings in Gangnam and is considered to be dangerous.”

          “Oh my god,” Donghae muttered as his jaw dropped.

          “How the hell did he get out?” Changmin asked.

          “I can think of only one person who would break him out,” Donghae stated. “We’ve gotta find them; I’m heading to the precinct now, but ask the Captain to send a patrol car to sit outside my apartment building to keep an eye on Hyukjae in case they decide to come back.”

          “Will do,” Changmin agreed before they both hung up.

          Donghae headed back into the bedroom and quickly changed into his police uniform before kissing Hyukjae’s head, whispering to the sleeping blonde, “I love you, I’ll be home later, don’t worry you’ll be safe.” Donghae grabbed his phone and headed out the door towards the precinct.

          Meanwhile, inside Kim Ryeowook’s apartment, the brunette sat in his chair reading a book when he heard a gentle knock at the door. Ryeowook sighed as he sat the book down and stood up. With the trial going on, the police had set a car across the street from his building to make sure he stayed safe, and when the cop on duty needed to use the restroom, they would come upstairs to use his. Opening the door, Ryeowook expected to see the on-duty police officer there, but gasped and felt his eyes widen when he saw Yesung standing in the doorway. “Y-yesung?” he muttered.

          The raven haired Korean smiled as he replied “Hi Ryeowook.”


	5. Chapter 5

          “How did, I mean, when did you –” Ryeowook stuttered, trying to search for the right words.

          “I came to see you,” Yesung said, placing his hand on Ryeowook’s face, watching the brunette’s eyes close as he leaned into Yesung’s gentle touch.

          “Come inside,” Ryeowook beckoned, pulling Yesung into his apartment before closing the door. “The officer out front didn’t see you did he?”

          Yesung smirked. “No, no one saw me come inside,” he promised.

          “How did you get here?” Ryeowook wondered.

          “Kyuhyun brought me,” Yesung stated.

          Ryeowook’s heart dropped into his stomach. He still had no idea that Kyuhyun was still alive. “W-what?” he muttered nervously. “Is he here with you?”

          Yesung saw Ryeowook’s worry and gently touched his shoulders, whispering “It’s okay, Kyuhyun’s not here, don’t be nervous. I told him I wanted to spend some time with you alone. It’s just us.”

          Ryeowook leaned his forehead to Yesung’s, feeling the raven haired Korean slip his arms around his waist and pull him closer. “Why are you still friends with him after what he tried to do to us?” Ryeowook asked.

          “What are you talking about?” Yesung inquired.

          The brunette looked at Yesung and said “He almost killed us Yesung, don’t you remember?”

          Yesung, in his still amnesiac state of mind, grew an expression of confusion across his face. “No he didn’t,” Yesung denied. “Kyuhyun would never do anything like that; and if he ever tried to hurt you, he knows what I’d do to him.” Ryeowook remembered the Prosecutor and doctors telling him about Yesung’s amnesia, but he was still disheartened to hear that Yesung couldn’t recall his so called _friend_ attempting to murder them. Seeing Ryeowook lower his head, Yesung gently placed his hands on his cheeks and raised his face up before kissing Ryeowook’s forehead and whispering “I really missed you.”

          “And I missed you,” Ryeowook echoed, resting one of his own hands on Yesung’s face. “How did you get out of jail?”

          “Well, Kyuhyun came to visit the other day and told me he needed my help,” Yesung started.

          “Help with what?” Ryeowook nervously inquired.

          “Apparently, Donghae sent Sungmin away and Kyuhyun can’t find him, so he needs my help to locate him,” Yesung explained. “But in order to do that, Kyuhyun needed me out of jail; so what he did was slip me some smoke pellets and I used them to cause a riot in the cell block where I was being kept. During all the fighting and commotion, Kyuhyun masqueraded himself as a cop and escorted me out. It was honestly child’s play.” After seeing Ryeowook’s reaction to hearing him recall the events, Yesung added “But the first thing I wanted to do was come and see you. I really did miss you Ryeowook.”

          “And I missed you,” Ryeowook echoed as they nudged their faces together gently. “I’m sorry about what happened in the courtroom today; I didn’t want to say anything bad about you, but that Prosecutor lady kept twisting words and saying that you were this horrible person, and I just, I didn’t want to believe her.”

          Yesung cupped Ryeowook’s face as he whispered “I know, but let’s not think about that right now; I just want to think about being with you and showing you how much you matter to me.”

          Ryeowook gazed at Yesung with tear-glistening eyes as the raven haired Korean slowly leaned forward and kissed his lips softly. Yesung tilted Ryeowook’s head to the side before grazing his lips down the brunette’s neck, lightly sucking against the skin lovingly. Ryeowook closed his eyes and let out a quiet moan as he felt Yesung kiss him. Slipping his arms around Ryeowook, Yesung pulled the smaller Korean closer to him as he began running his hands under Ryeowook’s shirt, up his back. Feeling Yesung’s hands caused Ryeowook to gasp and pull away from him. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I just, when you touched me and kissed me at the same time, I, I remembered when _he_ used to do that, but it always hurt afterwards,” Ryeowook whispered as the tears finally began to slide down his cheeks as Ryeowook covered his face in an ashamed way.

          Yesung knew that Ryeowook was referring to the boyfriend; he remembered the horrible details of abuse that that bastard had done to Ryeowook, so Yesung understood his hesitation. “Ryeowook,” the raven haired Korean muttered, slowly pulling him closer into an embrace. Yesung wrapped his arms around the distraught brunette and shushed his tears gently; Ryeowook gradually relaxed in Yesung’s arms and buried his face in his shoulder. “I know that monster did things to you that you should never have had to experience, but I would not in a million years hurt you like that. I would never make you feel the way he did. I want you to feel safe and loved; you deserve to have your body praised and adored, not defiled and scarred. I can’t change what happened to you, but I can love and kiss every inch of you until you feel like the beautiful perfection I see you as, please Ryeowook,” Yesung quietly said as he stroked the back of Ryeowook’s head. The brunette trembled against Yesung, listening to his sweet words before raising his head so the two could look at one another.

          Ryeowook said nothing, only nodded slowly as his eyes stayed locked on Yesung. The raven haired Korean gently took Ryeowook’s face in his hands and kissed his lips once more. Ryeowook then watched as Yesung slipped off his shirt, tossing it to the ground, before slowly pulling up Ryeowook’s shirt, leaving both of their upper bodies exposed to one another. Nervously, Ryeowook covered his scarred abdomen with his hands, only for Yesung to gently pull them away. “I wanna look at you,” he whispered, running a hand lovingly through Ryeowook’s hair as he kissed him again.

          Feeling Yesung’s hands rest on his waist, Ryeowook took a breath and muttered “I know what to do next.”

          “What?” Yesung asked in a confused tone.

          Without any more explanation, Ryeowook went over to his bed and lie down in the middle of it on his stomach, requesting “Please be gentle.”

          “Ryeowook, what are you doing?” Yesung inquired as he stood next to the bed and looked down at the brunette.

          “My boyfriend always made me lie this way before he had his way with me, this is all I’ve ever done,” Ryeowook slowly explained. “He was always so rough and made me hurt every time.”

          Yesung immediately helped Ryeowook sit up and said “I’m not going to do that to you; I’m not gonna treat you like he did. I’m gonna make sure you’re comfortable and that everything is pleasurable, all you have to do is relax and let me take care of you.” Ryeowook looked at Yesung and saw the genuineness in his gaze as he lightly brushed the bangs out of Yesung’s eyes.

          The raven haired Korean kissed Ryeowook as he knelt down in front of the brunette, at the end of the bed, and placed his hands on Ryeowook’s waist before leaning forward to lightly graze his mouth across Ryeowook’s abdomen. Yesung planted gentle kisses against the scars, feeling the brunette’s skin tremble underneath his lips. Ryeowook closed his eyes and tilted his head back as a light moan resonated in his throat. Gradually, Yesung began to climb up onto the bed as Ryeowook moved backwards to lie his head back on his pillow. Ryeowook looked up at the raven haired Korean hovering over him, smiling down at him. Lowering his head, Yesung started kissing Ryeowook’s neck, listening to Ryeowook gasp and moan once more. Yesung’s lips then travelled down past the brunette’s shoulder and collarbone, before pausing at Ryeowook’s chest. The raven haired Korean let his mouth airily brush over the middle of Ryeowook’s chest, feeling his ecstatic heartbeat just under the skin. Ryeowook started to slowly pant as he felt Yesung kiss down to his stomach again before sensing Yesung’s fingertips dance along the waistband of his sweatpants. The brunette gasped, let out another light moan, and arched his back as he felt Yesung begin gently nipping at his hips as he started peeling the garment off of Ryeowook’s fragile body, tossing the clothing off the bed once Ryeowook’s legs were uncovered. Yesung sat up on his knees when he noticed how nervous Ryeowook was, and took the brunette’s hands, pulling him to sit up, almost chest to chest with one another. The two were silent as they gazed at one another; Yesung stroking Ryeowook’s hair, and Ryeowook’s eyes scanning Yesung’s torso as he lie his fingertips on the raven haired Korean’s chest. Yesung took Ryeowook’s face in his hands as he leaned forward and kissed his soft lips again, while Ryeowook impulsively slid his hands down past Yesung’s stomach to unfasten the jeans he was still wearing. Feeling Ryeowook do this caused Yesung to stop as they locked eyes again; Ryeowook then approved Yesung’s desires further by slipping his jeans and boxers down off Yesung’s body, casually throwing them next to his own discarded clothing. Both kept their eyes one each other as Yesung gently moved Ryeowook down on his back once more before continuing.

          Ryeowook raised his hips slightly as his boxer shorts were removed, leaving his body fully naked and exposed for Yesung’s eyes to drink in. His heart pounded loudly against his chest as Yesung’s lips grazed over the tender skin on his thighs. A loud moan then escaped Ryeowook’s throat as he sharply arched his back, feeling Yesung begin to pleasure him. This was a new experience for Ryeowook; his boyfriend had never shown attention to his pelvic region like this, but the way Yesung was doing it released a searing heat throughout the brunette’s body. Yesung however, loved listening to Ryeowook’s feminine moans echo throughout the room as he tended to him, ever so often hearing his own name faintly leave Ryeowook’s tongue; he wanted this moment to be perfect for Ryeowook, knowing the abuse he’d endured. The brunette Korean watched Yesung crawl up his body before pressing their foreheads together as Yesung kissed him. Reaching up, Ryeowook buried his fingers in his lover’s raven hair, feeling Yesung’s skin rub against his delicate frame. As Yesung began to kiss at Ryeowook’s neck, he slowly snaked his hands past Ryeowook’s ribs, and across his stomach before taking ahold of his legs and lifting them to wrap around his waist. Yesung looked down at Ryeowook and stroked his cheek as he whispered “Are you ready?”

          Ryeowook nodded as he raked his fingers across Yesung’s bangs. “Yes, I trust you,” the brunette breathed out.

          Yesung watched Ryeowook’s eyes roll up and his back arch as he attempted to fully satisfy Ryeowook’s sexual needs. The sounds of his falsetto moans were like a symphony to Yesung as he kissed Ryeowook’s throat and watched his body quiver under him. Ryeowook scraped his fingernails up Yesung’s back before clenching his shoulders; Yesung was so gentle with him in every way, from the way he touched and kissed him, to the way he pleasured him, that Ryeowook let Yesung’s name roll off his lips and echo throughout the dark stillness of the apartment.

          Moving to lie down next to the brunette, Yesung pulled Ryeowook closer and kissed him, gently running his hands up and down Ryeowook’s back, listening to him catch his breath. “I love you Ryeowook, my beautiful Ryeowookie,” Yesung whispered as his mouth grazed across the brunette’s throat.

          “I love you too Yesung,” Ryeowook moaned as his heart beat a mile a minute. The two wrapped their arms tightly around one another as Ryeowook buried his head in Yesung’s chest and Yesung continued trailing his fingertips around Ryeowook’s back. “I don’t want you to leave, just stay and be with me,” the brunette requested.

          Yesung smiled down at Ryeowook, placing a kiss on top of his head. “I want nothing more than to be with you, and we will be together, I’ll take you to stay with me and Kyuhyun while we look for –” Yesung started.

          Ryeowook’s head shot up as he looked at the raven haired Korean and nodded, pleading “No, no, please, I don’t want to be around him, he scares me, and he hurts me.”

          “I would never let him hurt you Ryeowook,” Yesung promised. Ryeowook lowered his eyes, knowing that Yesung’s amnesia was the reason why he couldn’t remember Kyuhyun’s abusive actions towards Ryeowook in the past. “Besides, after I help Kyuhyun find Sungmin, you and I will go off on our own; we’ll go wherever you want, anywhere in the world, and I’ll protect you and love you, would you like that my Ryeowookie?”

          Truthfully, going off and starting a new life with Yesung sounded wonderful. “Yes, that sounds amazing,” Ryeowook muttered, feeling Yesung rake his fingers through his brunette hair gently. “Just please, don’t let Kyuhyun hurt me.”

          “I’d never let anyone hurt you,” Yesung replied as he and Ryeowook gazed at one another. He leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to Ryeowook’s lips, before adding “I’ll help you pack and we’ll leave in the morning; tonight, I just want to lie here and hold you.” Ryeowook didn’t seem to object to that since he nestled into Yesung’s arms and closed his eyes.

          Yesung stayed awake and watched Ryeowook sleep next to him for several minutes before slowly pulling away from the brunette to stand up. His movements caused Ryeowook to groan at the feeling of him leaving, as he whispered “Yesung?”

          The raven haired Korean shushed him gently, responding “I’ll be right back.” Ryeowook returned to his slumber as Yesung slipped his boxers back on and headed into the bathroom, quietly closing the door behind him before turning on the water to the shower.

          As Ryeowook lie there alone in bed momentarily, he was almost back asleep before hearing a knock at the apartment door. The brunette groaned quietly, sleepily getting up out of bed and retrieving his bathrobe from a chair near the bed. After putting on the garment and tying the belt around his waist, Ryeowook walked over to the door, and without thinking, opened it up, not checking who it was through the peephole. Upon opening it, the brunette suddenly regretted his decision to not check and was wide awake when he saw who was at the door; Ryeowook gasped and felt his heart pound loudly against his chest, as he was once again face to face with his ex-boyfriend. “Hi baby, did you miss me?” he asked, words like venom to Ryeowook’s ears. The man leaned forward to try and kiss the brunette, but Ryeowook fearfully turned his head away, causing the ex-boyfriend to grab his face and jerked it back to his. “Don’t act like that, you know better.” He forced his lips to Ryeowook’s as he roughly grabbed his waist.

          Pulling back for breath, Ryeowook could see the circular scar around his ex’s neck from where Yesung had choked him with the lamp cord, and burn marks on his hands, arms, and face. “H-how –” Ryeowook managed to stutter out before falling silent as his body shook nervously.

          “That fucking computer geek from the police force left me for dead in the bathtub,” the ex-boyfriend explained as walked past Ryeowook and into the apartment. “I was forced to endure minor electrocution in order to escape, hence how I got these; had to spend a couple of weeks in the hospital.” He pointed to the burn marks that Ryeowook had previously noticed. “But, I told him I would find you; a master always finds his pet.” The ex-boyfriend grazed his hand down Ryeowook’s cheek, feeling him tremble. The ex then heard the sound of running water coming from the bathroom. “Is someone else here?”

          Ryeowook’s eyes widened. He knew that if his ex-boyfriend found out that Yesung was there and that they had been intimate, that he would definitely go off. “I-I’m, I was just about to take a shower,” Ryeowook lied.

          The ex-boyfriend didn’t seem to believe Ryeowook and stepped further into the apartment to investigate. He stopped abruptly when he saw Ryeowook and Yesung’s disheveled clothing littering the floor around the bed. “Someone else _is_ here,” the ex-boyfriend growled, sending a chill up Ryeowook’s spine. Ryeowook stood there frozen in fear as his ex-boyfriend approached him slowly, quietly demanding “Did you cheat on me Ryeowook?” When the brunette was too scared to answer, the Korean man slammed his hand against the wall next to Ryeowook’s head, causing Ryeowook to flinch and close his eyes. “Answer me bitch, who did you fuck?”

          Before Ryeowook could reply, the two heard the water in the bathroom be shut off. Ryeowook nervously turned his head to the bathroom door as he and his ex watched Yesung emerge from the room. The raven haired Korean saw Ryeowook’s ex-boyfriend towering over the smaller brunette and couldn’t believe that he was still alive. The ex turned to Ryeowook and spat “Really? You fucked the guy who tried to kill me, you had sex with this psychopath?! How can you be so fucking stupid?!” He then slapped Ryeowook across the face hard enough to send the brunette down to the ground.

          “Get your fucking hands off him!” Yesung yelled as he lunged towards the ex-boyfriend, jumping on his back to get him away from Ryeowook. Yesung had his arms wrapped tightly around the ex’s throat, wanting nothing more than to strangle the life out of him, but the Korean man seemed to remember Yesung’s strategies and ran backwards into the wall, knocking the wind out of Yesung. Even with trying to regain his breath, Yesung still kept a tight grip on the ex-boyfriend’s throat. The ex then continued slamming Yesung back into things in an attempt to knock him off; he rammed into the walls, doors, until finally stumbling into the bathroom and forcing Yesung back against the mirror, with his head shattering the glass roughly. This was just enough for Yesung to let go a little as the ex-boyfriend tossed him to the tiled ground, kicked Yesung in the stomach, and quickly shut the door before Yesung could get to his feet. To make matters worse, the ex then proceeded to shove one of Ryeowook’s dressers against the door, barricading Yesung inside. The raven haired Korean tried to get out, but found that the door wouldn’t budge. “No, no!” he screamed, banging against the door. “Ryeowook, Ryeowook! I swear to God, don’t you fucking touch him! Ryeowook!” Yesung tried with all his strength to escape the room, wanting to get his lover away from the violent man.

          The ex-boyfriend yanked Ryeowook up onto his feet and held him by the wrists, growling lowly “You spread your legs for that fucking psycho, didn’t you, you little whore?” Ryeowook eyes watered fearfully, before the ex shook him and yelled “Didn’t you?!”

          “Y-yes,” Ryeowook whispered. “H-he loves me.”

          “Impossible, I made your body so disgusting to look at that no man would ever love you,” the ex-boyfriend venomously spat. “What kind of fucking idiot loves someone like him?”

          “I do,” Ryeowook bravely remarked, tears streaming down his cheeks.

          The ex slapped Ryeowook’s face again, causing the brunette to whimper. He leaned in close and whispered into Ryeowook’s ear “I told you that your body belongs to me and only me. If I have to reclaim my property, then I will do just that.”

          The ex-boyfriend then dragged Ryeowook over to the bed before throwing him down on the mattress, before climbing on top of him; he harshly turned the brunette onto his stomach, pinning Ryeowook underneath him. Ryeowook screamed as he struggled against his ex, before his arms were pressed down against the bed. “No, please, please don’t do this, stop please,” Ryeowook choked out with his sobs.

          “You’re the one making me do this Ryeowook,” the ex stoically blamed as he removed his shirt and tossed it aside. “If you hadn’t fucked that bastard in there, then I wouldn’t have to resort to this.” Ryeowook clenched his eyes shut and cried loudly as he felt his ex rip open his robe, exposing the brunette’s back to the abuser. His skin quivered as his ex ran his fingertips up his back slowly. The ex-boyfriend shushed Ryeowook’s crying harshly, leaning down to mock “You think he can help you now? I told you that you’re my bitch and that will never change.” Ryeowook’s body froze as he felt the rest of his robe be stripped from him, leaving him bare for his abuser. The ex-boyfriend began to roughly kiss and bite at Ryeowook’s back and shoulder, sinking his teeth into the skin, earning painful moans from the brunette. Ryeowook could only tremble and sob as he felt his hips be raised up and heard the sound of his ex’s zipper be unfastened.

          Suddenly, the bathroom door broke down and the dresser fell, causing a loud crash. Yesung screamed and gripped his shoulder before scrambling to his feet; he rushed into the bedroom and immediately began jabbing a shard of glass from the broken mirror into the side of the ex-boyfriend’s neck, demanding “I said get the fuck away from him!”

          The ex screamed in pain as blood gushed from his neck and he stumbled away from Ryeowook. Holding the side of his neck, the ex-boyfriend pulled a large pocket knife out of his jeans and lunged at Yesung, who moved out of the way and pushed the abusive man head first into the wall. He took the arm with the knife and snapped it over his knee, violently breaking the ex-boyfriend’s arm, and causing him to drop the knife and scream again. Yesung gripped the pocket knife in his fist as he angrily breathed through clenched teeth. He wanted to break every bone in this bastard’s body for assaulting Ryeowook, but knew that that wouldn’t be enough; Yesung wanted him to suffer. Grabbing the ex-boyfriend by his feet, Yesung dragged the still bleeding man out of Ryeowook’s bedroom and into the main room. Turning the ex over onto his back, Yesung looked down at him with disgust and rage. When the ex-boyfriend tried to reach for Yesung with his non-broken arm, grabbed his wrist and quickly sliced his fingertips off. Blood poured from the wounds as the man screamed, before Yesung stuffed his shirt into his mouth as a makeshift gag. “I’m not done with you yet motherfucker,” Yesung muttered as he pulled his lighter out of his pocket and flickered it until a flame was produced. The raven haired Korean then cauterized the ends of the ex’s fingertips, sealing the wounds shut as the smell of burning flesh and blood filled the apartment, while the ex-boyfriend muffled his screams into the gag.

          Yesung then began to carve the word ‘bitch’ deep into the ex-boyfriend’s chest, singeing each letter with his lighter immediately afterwards. “Who’s the bitch now, you worthless fuck?” Yesung growled. “I’m not going to ever let you touch Ryeowook again. I should’ve made sure you were dead last time, I won’t make that mistake again. And I will make sure you never rape him or anyone else ever again.”

          As soon as he finished that sentence, Yesung roughly hacked off the ex-boyfriend’s penis, smirking at his silenced yelling as his body began to convulse from all the blood loss. The raven haired Korean then raised the knife high in the air before bringing it down, jamming the blade into the ex-boyfriend’s right eye. Yanking the knife out of the bleeding socket, Yesung began stabbing the ex all over the torso and stomach, angry tears spilling from his eyes as he screamed “Never again, you won’t hurt him ever again!”

          Finally, after delivering the final blow, Yesung tossed the knife aside and knelt back, looking Ryeowook’s abusive ex-boyfriend lie dead in front of him. The raven haired Korean breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the man wouldn’t touch his lover anymore. Standing up, Yesung walked into the bathroom and scrubbed his hands, face, and chest from where blood had splattered onto him during the struggle. After cleaning up, Yesung hurried into the bedroom to find Ryeowook still lying on the bed, frozen in the same position as before. “Ryeowook,” he gently whispered, lightly touching the brunette’s back.

          Ryeowook flinched at Yesung’s touch before looking up to see Yesung next to him. The raven haired Korean wrapped his arms around Ryeowook and held his trembling body close, letting the brunette sob in his embrace. “H-he, he –” Ryeowook began, but couldn’t finish, burying his face in Yesung’s chest.

          “Did he rape you?” Yesung fearfully asked.

          “No, he almost did,” Ryeowook cried, holding onto Yesung tighter.

          Yesung pressed a kiss to Ryeowook’s head and shushed him lovingly as he stroked his hair. “It’s alright now, he’s gone; he can’t hurt you anymore. He’s gone Ryeowook,” Yesung promised.

          “Thank you Yesung,” Ryeowook sobbed, lightly kissing his lover’s cheek. The raven haired Korean wrapped a blanket around Ryeowook as he continued to comfort the distraught brunette with gentle touches, loving kisses, and sweet whispers. “I’m sorry, Yesung I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have opened the door; I wasn’t thinking.”

          “It’s not your fault Ryeowook, you didn’t know,” Yesung whispered, lightly kissing his lips. Trailing his fingers along the brunette’s back, Yesung could feel the now swollen bite marks from where the ex had roughly marked Ryeowook’s body. Feeling those made Yesung pull his lover closer as he brushed his mouth over his neck, muttering “My Ryeowookie, my beautiful Ryeowookie.” Yesung continued to quietly console and reassure Ryeowook that everything was alright and that he still loved him.

          When Ryeowook finally stopped trembling, Yesung heard police sirens begin wailing down the street, figuring all the commotion had caused the neighbors to call them. Standing up, Yesung looked out of the window and saw the officers from across the street get out of their car and move towards the apartment building, as the four other police vehicles arrived. Quickly, Yesung dressed as Ryeowook nervously asked “Yesung?”

          “I have to go now,” Yesung remarked.

          Ryeowook placed his hands on the raven haired Korean’s face and pleaded “No please, please don’t leave me, please Yesung.”

          Yesung wrapped his arms around Ryeowook and hushed him gently, saying “Tell them I was here and that I murdered your ex.”

          “What?” Ryeowook inquired in a confused tone.

          “If they know that I was here, they will put you in protective custody where I know you’ll be safe for now,” Yesung explained. “After everything settle down, I will come get you.”

          “How are you gonna know where I’m at?” Ryeowook wondered, tears sliding down his face.

          “I can hack into the database and find where you are, it’s just for a little while Ryeowook, until things calm down,” Yesung promised. He leaned forward and kissed Ryeowook’s lips. “I love you Ryeowook.”

          “I love you too Yesung,” the brunette echoed quietly.

          Suddenly, there was a loud pounding at the front door, and the two knew that the police were there. “I’ll come get you soon, I promise,” Yesung stated before getting up and opening Ryeowook’s bedroom window.

          Just as the police broke down the apartment’s front door, Yesung slipped out of the window and crouched down on the fire escape as he heard the police ask Ryeowook if he was alright and heard the remarks of disgust and horror at the ex-boyfriend’s mangled body. Knowing Ryeowook would be put somewhere safe, Yesung continued to stealthily sneak down the fire escape before jumping down to the sidewalk. The raven haired Korean began to run down several blocks before ducking into an alleyway where he pulled out his phone and called Kyuhyun. Several minutes later, the dark brunette Korean pulled up next to the alley and signaled for Yesung to climb in. “Guessing things didn’t go according to plan,” Kyuhyun figured as they started driving away.

          “His ex showed up and I finally killed that fucker,” Yesung informed. “Ryeowook will be put somewhere safe where I can find him later.”

          “So for now, we can continue to search for where they hid my Minnie,” Kyuhyun said. “And get back at the ones who separated us.”

          Yesung nodded. “What do you suggest?” he asked.

          A smile grew across Kyuhyun’s lips as he replied “We annihilate the officers from the 18th Precinct one by one.”


	6. Chapter 6

           Moments later, E.L.F. walked into Ryeowook’s apartment and saw the mutilated corpse of his ex-boyfriend lying in a pool of congealing blood. Immediately, Donghae walked over to the officers who were the first responders and asked “Has he said anything?”

          “No, he still seems shaken up,” an officer said. “You can try talking to him if you want, maybe you’ll have better luck than we did.”

          Donghae nodded before slowly walking into Ryeowook’s bedroom, finding the brunette sitting on his bed wrapped in a blanket with a distraught look on his face. “Ryeowook, are you alright?” Donghae gently asked, sitting down on the corner of the bed. Ryeowook shook his head before Donghae inquired “What happened?” When Ryeowook started to cry quietly, Donghae stood and placed his hand on Ryeowook’s shoulder, promising “It’s alright now, you’re not in any trouble.” When that didn’t seem to help Ryeowook’s tears cease, Donghae muttered “Yesung was here, wasn’t he?”

          Suddenly, Ryeowook’s eyes widened as he turned to look at the officer. “H-how did you know?” Ryeowook whispered.

          “Because your ex-boyfriend is dead in the other room and we know Yesung had a lot of anger towards him for abusing you,” Donghae reminded. “Am I right?”

          “Yes,” Ryeowook confirmed. “But Yesung was protecting me.”

          “Tell me what happened,” Donghae calmly requested.

          Ryeowook took a breath and began to explain slowly, “Yesung came over about an hour ago saying that he missed me and wanted to see me. We, we had sex and he promised to take me away in the morning where we would be safe and together.”

          “Did he say how he got out of prison?” Donghae wondered.

          “Yesung told me that Cho Kyuhyun helped him, but I thought he was dead,” Ryeowook said.

          “So did we,” Donghae replied. “Go on, what happened next?”

          “After we had sex, Yesung went into the bathroom to take a shower, and I heard a knock on the door. I opened it up, and –” Ryeowook paused a moment. “There was my ex-boyfriend. He came inside and heard the water running in the bathroom and demanded to know who was here, and then when he saw Yesung walk out of the bathroom, he knew we had had sex. He got so mad that he, he trapped Yesung in the bathroom and then grabbed me and –” Turning his head away from Donghae, Ryeowook started to cry again.

          “It’s alright, take your time,” Donghae encouraged.

          “H-he threw me onto my bed and started ripping my robe off me, saying that I had brought this onto myself, and I couldn’t move, I just froze underneath him,” Ryeowook recounted.

          “Did he rape you?” Donghae slowly asked.

          Ryeowook nodded his head. “He got so close, but before he could do anything, Yesung had pulled him off of me. I was so scared that I just laid there motionless, but heard things breaking and my ex-boyfriend screaming, and the next thing I knew, Yesung was pulling me into his arms and telling me that everything was okay and that I was safe again,” the brunette finished. “He heard sirens approaching and told me to tell you that he was here, and then he left out the window; he probably went back to work with Cho Kyuhyun.”

          Donghae and Ryeowook turned to look at the bedroom window that was unlocked as the detective stood up and walked over, glancing outside to see the fire escape. “Why did Yesung tell you to tell us that he was here?” Donghae inquired.

          “Because he knew I would be safe,” Ryeowook said quietly.

          “Thank you Ryeowook, you’ve been helpful; we’re gonna find Yesung,” Donghae replied before stepping towards the bedroom door.

          “Detective Lee,” Ryeowook called.

          Donghae stopped and turned to the brunette. “Yes?” he said.

          “Please don’t let Kyuhyun kill him,” Ryeowook begged as tears spilled down his face.

          Donghae sighed, knowing he couldn’t promise something like that to Ryeowook because of how truly deranged Kyuhyun was, but seeing the tears cascading down the brunette’s cheeks, Donghae forced a smile across his lips and muttered “We’ll find him.”

          Exiting the bedroom, Donghae rejoined the other detectives in the living room area just in time to watch the coroners wheel out the ex-boyfriend on a gurney, wrapped up in blood soaked sheets. “What’d he say?” Changmin asked as Donghae approached them.

          “Yesung was definitely the one who killed him,” Donghae confirmed.

          “So since he was here, we need to move Ryeowook to a safer location until we can reprimand Yesung and Kyuhyun,” Seunghyun suggested.

          “But wouldn’t he be expecting that? Yesung is very calculated and knows how to hack into any system; there’s nowhere we can hide Ryeowook that Yesung won’t be able to find him,” Siwon reminded.

          “Regardless, Captain is gonna want to put at least four officers watching Ryeowook at all times,” Changmin stated.

          Donghae turned to Seunghyun. “How good is Yoona at building secure firewalls?” he wondered.

          “She’s one of the best really; can make any piece of information so safe, that not even the deep web hackers can access it,” Seunghyun replied. “Why do you ask?”

          “Maybe we can get her to put up some security around Ryeowook’s file so Yesung can’t find him,” Donghae suggested.

          “Yeah, she can definitely make something like that,” Seunghyun confirmed.

          The next day, while getting Ryeowook placed into protective custody, E.L.F. presented their idea to Yoona. “I like your plan, but would you be opposed to me adding a personal touch of my own to this?” Yoona wondered.

          “What do you suggest?” Donghae curiously asked.

          As Yoona typed rapidly on her computer, she explained “Setting up a secure firewall will be simple, mere child’s play, but since you guys are dealing with a professional, I’m adding an additional trigger deep into the system’s code so that if anyone who doesn’t have clearance tries to access the information outside of the precinct, then the system will take a digital print of the hacker’s computer location; this way, if Yesung tries to get into the computer and find Ryeowook, it will alert us to where he is.”

          “That’s brilliant,” Siwon complimented.

          “Told you guys she was good,” Seunghyun said with a grin, earning a smirk form Yoona as she finished setting up her coded trap.

          “There, good to go,” Yoona declared as she hit the Enter button on her keyboard.

          “Awesome,” Donghae replied as he and the others smiled at Yoona’s work.

          “Detectives!” screeched a voice from the entrance of the 18th Precinct. The four groaned quietly as they turned and saw Prosecutor Ji-eun stomping towards them. “Would anyone care to explain why I turned on the TV this morning only to discover that Kim Jong-woon has somehow managed to escape prison?!”

          “Well, could it be that you saw that because you have eyes like everyone else?” Seunghyun sarcastically asked, earning discreet grins from his fellow detectives and even Yoona.

          Ji-eun shot a narrowed gaze at Seunghyun. “This is not the time to joke detective, a dangerous psychopath is out loose on the streets, and you four don’t seem fazed by it,” she remarked.

          “Prosecutor Lee, we’ve been working on it all night,” Siwon informed.

          “Kim Jong-woon went to see Kim Ryeowook last night and during an altercation, ending up killing Ryeowook’s ex-boyfriend and leaving before we arrived,” Changmin explained. “We’re putting Ryeowook in protective custody and have his file secured so that if anyone tries to access it without proper authorization, we will be sent details of their location.”

          “So you’re all hoping to just wait around and see if you can bait him instead of going out there and looking for him,” Ji-eun accused.

          “It won’t take him long, Yesung loves Ryeowook to the point of obsession; there’s no way he can go more than a few days without searching for Ryeowook’s whereabouts,” Donghae promised.

          “You better be right about this,” Ji-eun grumbled. “Don’t fuck this up detectives.” The four looked at one another with shocked expressions, even Yoona’s eyes widened and mouth dropped slightly at hearing how this woman talked to them.

          Prosecutor Lee turned and began walking out, only for Donghae to stand up and begin following her. “Oh shit,” Changmin muttered as he saw the anger in Donghae’s eyes. He and Siwon immediately stood up to follow him.

          Seunghyun gazed down at Yoona and grinned before kissing the top of her head and whispering “Nice job on the virtual trap.”

          As Seunghyun took a couple of steps to follow his fellow officers, he heard Yoona call “Hey.” Stopping, Seunghyun looked back at Yoona, as she reminded “Strictly professional between us, remember?”

          Smirking, Seunghyun shrugged and replied “Worth a shot.” The raven haired detective then continued after his friends, not seeing the smile and light blush appear on Yoona’s face as she returned to her work.

          “Just what the hell is your problem with us?” Donghae demanded grabbing Ji-eun’s arm as she attempted to walk down the steps at the front of the precinct.

          “My problem is that there is a criminal, a murderer no less, out there on the loose that you four personally know and you’re all treating the situation like it’s nothing, wanting to sit around on your asses expecting him to come to you with some virtual trap that may or may not even work,” Prosecutor Lee argued.

          “We know how to do our jobs, Prosecutor,” Siwon stated.

          “Unlike some people,” Donghae muttered under his breath.

          “If you have something to say to me, just come out and say it already,” Ji-eun encouraged as she glared at Donghae. “You don’t think I know how to do my job?”

          “With this case, no you don’t,” Donghae remarked. “From the first day you were assigned this case, you’ve been nothing but emotionless and cruel to the victims who suffered things you cannot even imagine, you berate us over things that we have no control over, and what’s worse is that you don’t care about retraumatizing the victims, so long as it helps you make your case.”

          “It’s my job to put away criminals at any and all costs. We’re supposed to be fighting for the same justice Detective Lee, or did you forget that?” Ji-eun snapped.

          “Making a victim relive every single moment of torture that happened to him, making him remember his rape, reminding him that he is forever scarred by this; where’s the justice in that, Prosecutor?” Donghae asked. “Or do you just get off on things like that?”

          Ji-eun then slapped Donghae across the face, causing the other detectives to drop their jaws in shock as the two continued glaring at each other. “Don’t ever speak to me like that again detective,” Ji-eun lowly threatened.

          “Doesn’t feel nice when you’re the one being badgered, does it Counselor?” Donghae whispered, never breaking his gaze from her.

          After taking a few silent, angry breaths, Ji-eun turned and continued storming down the steps of the precinct before crossing the street to where her car was waiting. “You okay man?” Changmin asked as Donghae rubbed his throbbing cheek.

          “Yeah I’m good, I just can’t believe that she –” Donghae started.

          Suddenly, the four were startled as they were knocked to the ground just as an explosion went off. Turning, the detectives gazed across the street to see the Prosecutor’s car engulfed in flames, with debris littering the road all around the car. “What the fuck?” Seunghyun said as they all stood up.

          Time seemed to slow down for Donghae; his ears rang and his eyes stayed glued on the flaming car, as he slowly craned his head to glance at the scene around them. Windows had been shattered on nearby cars and buildings, car alarms were blaring from vehicles that had stopped because of the fire, and several civilians were sitting on the ground injured, or lying on the sidewalk, more than likely dead or severely injured from being in the crossfire of debris. Donghae watched as Changmin, Seunghyun, and Siwon hurried across the street to help the people who had been affected, before he felt someone touch his shoulder and shake him. “Donghae,” the Captain’s voice firmly said, bringing Donghae out of his state of momentary shock.

          Nodding his head and blinking a few times, Donghae turned to Kangin and responded “Yes sir?”

          “What the hell happened out here?” Kangin questioned, looking around.

          “Car, car bomb,” Donghae slowly answered. “Prosecutor’s car.”

          “I’ll call the Gangnam Fire Department and get the precinct evacuated until the Bomb Squad can do a thorough run through of the building just to be safe. In the meantime, you and the others –” Kangin began.

          That was when Donghae stopped paying attention and began scanning the area again, gazing at the chaos surrounding him. “He’s here somewhere,” Donghae muttered under his breath.

          “Donghae what is it?” the Captain asked, noticing his detective’s expression.

          “He’s here somewhere,” Donghae repeated, this time a little louder. Donghae ignored Kangin’s calls as he ran down the steps of the precinct and up the street into the nearest café. The disheveled officer took shaky breaths as he looked around inside, not seeing Kyuhyun or Yesung, only terrified and concerned citizens hiding towards the back of the café. Donghae continued down the street mumbling “Where are you, you son of a bitch?” The brunette detective knew that Kyuhyun would definitely try to stay and watch the explosion and had a feeling he was around. Donghae made it down to the last establishment that seemed to be affected by the explosion and looked inside. Donghae’s lungs were burning, his head was aching, and his mind was swimming as he forced his tired body into the bar. Suddenly, Donghae’s attention was turned towards the back of the bar where he saw the back of a patron’s head that had dark brunette hair and built similarly to Kyuhyun. Emotions taking over, Donghae gritted his teeth as he lunged towards the patron and tackled him to the ground, pounding his knuckles roughly into the man’s face. “Didn’t think I’d find you, did you, you fucking bastard?!” Donghae screamed as he continued punching the man. Donghae only stopped when he heard his name be called and felt himself be yanked off by Changmin. “No, no Changmin, I got him, I found him,” Donghae proudly said as he tried to squirm out of Changmin’s grasp to recapture his suspect.

          “Donghae, that’s not Kyuhyun!” Changmin yelled as he kept a firm grip on his friend’s arm. Donghae’s body seemed to freeze as he looked at Changmin with a confused expression. Changmin took a deep breath and repeated calmly “That’s not Kyuhyun.”

          To his horror, Donghae turned back to the patron who he thought was Kyuhyun and found Changmin’s statement to be true, he had just bloodied up the face of an innocent bystander. The brunette detective’s mouth dropped at his realization, as tears welled in his puffy eyes. “Oh my god Changmin,” Donghae muttered as the patron stood up and backed away from him. “Sir, I’m so sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Donghae kept saying as his tears finally fell.

          “C’mon, let’s go,” Changmin whispered, helping his friend stand up. Changmin led Donghae out of the bar and back down the street to the precinct where all the other officers currently flooded the street.

          “Bomb Squad is inside sweeping the precinct to make sure there wasn’t a second one planted,” Siwon informed. “How the hell did they know that she was here and why her?”

          “Well to be fair, she wasn’t the nicest person in the world,” Seunghyun reminded.

          “True, but that’s not the point,” Siwon remarked. “How did they know she was even here?”

          “They had to have followed her here and then waited for her to go inside. She was only inside for maybe ten minutes; that’s more than enough time for them to set up a bomb and then flee,” Changmin figured.

          “They’re not here, I checked,” Donghae informed, casually wiping the back of his hand across his eyes.

          “But that still begs the question why she was killed, I mean she had nothing to do with Yesung’s arrest or the investigation,” Seunghyun stated.

          “But she did try to prosecute Yesung afterwards,” Changmin reminded.

          “So you’re thinking that they came after her because she tried to put Yesung away?” Donghae asked.

          “It makes sense really, having a vendetta against the person who tried to put him away,” Changmin said.

          “Which brings about the question of who are they going to go after next?” Siwon added.

          Before they could continue, Kangin approached the four. “Ambulances have arrived and are taking the injured civilians to the hospital; do any of you need medical assistance since you were all nearby when the explosion happened?” Kangin inquired.

          Donghae hid his bloodied knuckles behind his back as the detectives responded “No sir.”

          “Alright, the four of you take the rest of the day off and recuperate; we’ll start an investigation into the morning after CSU takes a look at the remnants of the car bomb,” Kangin informed.

          “Captain, you know Kyuhyun and Yesung had to have done this,” Donghae said.

          “I know,” Kangin replied. “Which is why starting tomorrow, everyone takes on no less than fourteen hours shifts a day until these bastards are caught.” E.L.F. nodded in agreement with their Captain’s decision.

          Donghae slowly stepped off the elevator to his apartment floor before drudging down the hallway to the appropriate one. Pulling out his keys, Donghae unlocked the door, walking inside before locking up his home. “Hey, you’re home early,” Hyukjae called as he stood up from the couch and went over to greet Donghae. He stopped short when he saw how disheveled and red eyed Donghae looked. “What happened?”

          The brunette detective didn’t say a word, just instead wrapped his arms around Hyukjae and allowed tears to pour from his eyes again as he finally broke down. Hyukjae remained quiet, but slid his arms around a trembling Donghae in an attempt to comfort him. After a few minutes of silence, Donghae collected himself and walked over to the couch, saying “There was an explosion outside the precinct today.”

          “An explosion?” Hyukjae repeated with worry in his tone.

          Donghae nodded. “A bomb in the Prosecutor’s car,” he stated. “It’s safe to assume that Kyuhyun and Yesung had something to do with it.” Hyukjae sat down on the couch next to Donghae as the brunette reached over and brushed his fingers through Hyukjae’s bangs. “Starting tomorrow, I’ll have to be gone all day until they’re caught.”

          “I understand,” Hyukjae muttered as he nestled into Donghae’s arms and laid his head on Donghae’s chest.

          “I don’t wanna leave you alone for that long though,” Donghae replied, stroking Hyukjae’s blonde hair gently. “I’m terrified that they’ll try to come for you next.” Interlacing one of his hands with Hyukjae’s, the brunette added “But I won’t let them touch you, I promise, I’ll do whatever it takes.”

          “Just promise that you’ll stay safe, please Donghae, I can’t lose you,” Hyukjae whispered as he and Donghae looked at one another.

          Placing his hand on Hyukjae’s face, Donghae leaned forward and lightly brushed his lips over the blonde’s, promising “You won’t Hyukjae.” The two gently pressed their lips together, praying that there was truth in Donghae’s words.

          A few hours later, Donghae awoke from sleep to find he was still lying on the living room couch with Hyukjae still lying on his chest fast asleep, while the light from the TV illuminated the dark apartment room. Donghae sleepily raked his fingertips through the blonde’s hair and down his back while he gradually moved to sit up, adjusting Hyukjae accordingly so as not to wake him. Standing up, Donghae stretched before picking up Hyukjae and carrying him down the hall into their bedroom. He lay him down and covered him up before pressing a kiss to Hyukjae’s temple, whispering “I love you.”

          Donghae shut the bedroom door softly and returned to the living room, and sat back down on the couch, turning up the TV volume slightly, just barely catching the tail end of a story about several missing young men in the Daegu and Busan areas. The news anchor then stated “Earlier today a car bomb exploded outside the 18th Precinct of Gangnam, leaving twelve hospitalized, and four dead, including Gangnam district Prosecutor Lee Ji-Eun. The Captain of the precinct had no comment at this time, but says that they are going to be working night and day to find the culprit of the heinous act.” That was enough for Donghae to turn off the TV; darkness swallowed up the brunette as he sat there for a moment before standing up to join Hyukjae in bed. Closing his eyes, Donghae pulled the blonde closer to him and drifted off to sleep, wanting to forget about the day.

          The next morning, when Donghae arrived at the precinct, Kangin called him, Changmin, Siwon, and Seunghyun into his office. “So we’ve got a situation,” he informed.

          “What happened, did CSU find something?” Siwon asked.

          “Not yet, they’re still looking, hopefully we’ll get some results by early afternoon,” Kangin responded. “No yesterday after Bomb Squad cleared the building, everyone had to be scanned and logged in after reentering, but two of the IT officers didn’t log back in. I checked their desks and all of their belongings, including their phones, were still there so I know they didn’t leave for the day, and the officers who work around them didn’t know where they were.”

          “So what does that have to do with us?” Seunghyun wondered.

          “I realized that the two officers that are missing are the two that I had assigned to trick Yesung into going to the interrogation room during his investigation,” Kangin stated.

          “They’re going after people who interfered with their plans,” Donghae realized.

          “But I mean those two didn’t do hardly anything compared to what we did,” Changmin reminded.

          “Right, which means ultimately, I fear they are going to target you four. Anyone who could have possibly hindered escape or caught onto their plans is going to be next, which leaves everyone in this precinct in danger,” Kangin remarked. “Which is why we need to hurry and find them; canvas the area and see if you can find any street cameras or business employees who saw anything that happened yesterday.”

          “Yes sir,” the detectives agreed before hurrying out the door.

          Meanwhile, in an abandoned warehouse in Busan, Yesung sat at his laptop and typed away rapidly. “Find anything yet?” Kyuhyun asked as he walked up to his friend.

          “Not yet, there are more mental hospitals in Incheon than I thought; it’s gonna take a bit,” Yesung responded.

          “That bitch better not have lied to me about where Minnie is,” Kyuhyun growled.

          “Alright I’ve got a program scanning the web for any possible hospital he might be in, so while that is running, I’m gonna see if I can find where Ryeowook is,” Yesung said. He tried logging into the precinct database, but found his username and password to be invalid. “No problem, I can work around that.” After hacking into the database, Yesung saw Ryeowook’s file, but before clicking on it, decided to scan it to make sure it wasn’t baited. Sure enough, he discovered Yoona’s firewall, but oddly not like one he’d ever seen before. “Son of a bitch,” he grumbled.

          “What now?” Kyuhyun asked.

          “If I try to access this file, there’s a trigger on it to notify the creator of the trap in place. Pretty much if I try to open Ryeowook’s file, the cops will know where we are,” Yesung explained.

          “Well then just don’t open it,” Kyuhyun responded.

          “But I have to know where he is,” Yesung said. “I promised him.”

          Kyuhyun sighed. “So we can’t find either of them.”

          “Not at the moment no, the police have stepped up their game in terms of hiding them,” Yesung stated.

          Kyuhyun turned his head. “What if we get them to tell us?” he wondered gazing at the two IT officers who were bound and gagged on the other side of the room.

          “And what if they don’t?” Yesung asked.

          “Then we have a whole precinct to go through,” Kyuhyun reminded as a grin appeared across his lips. “C’mon, it’s time for an interrogation of our own.” Yesung stood up and joined Kyuhyun as the two approached the terrified, captured officers.


	7. Chapter 7

          The next day, after being on the case for a little over twenty four hours, the 18th Precinct was still in the struggling to find evidence and witnesses that put Kyuhyun and Yesung at the scene of the explosion. The E.L.F. knew that they were the ones responsible, but also knew that in order to put them away or get any leads on their whereabouts, they needed proof to back it up; street cameras had been disabled prior to the explosion, witnesses couldn’t make a clear identification, and worst of all, two more civilians had died in the hospital from wounds caused by the car bomb, bumping the tally of victims from four to six. “Has CSU made any new discoveries yet?” Kangin questioned as he entered the precinct to find everyone still working.

          “They found a detonator, but said that it was so burned up that it’ll be impossible to get fingerprints off of it, much less make out if it was homemade or professionally made,” Siwon informed.

          “How are the vultures outside?” Seunghyun wondered, craning his head to look out of the door windows to see a media frenzy forming as paparazzi and reporters swarmed the precinct while officers tried to restrain them.

          “I updated them on the conditions of the two victims who died at the hospital this morning, and also stated that we would not be releasing their names until the people responsible were caught out of respect and safety for the families,” Kangin explained.

          “Do they know Cho Kyuhyun is still alive?” Donghae asked.

          “No, and that’s how we keep it. No one says anything about Kyuhyun’s survival to anyone; the media is already in an uproar saying that Yesung is the alleged attacker, adding Kyuhyun to the mix will only fuel the fire. The only people who know Cho Kyuhyun survived are in this building and that’s how it’s going to stay,” Kangin ordered. “Is that understood?”

          “Yes sir,” E.L.F. unanimously agreed.

          “On another note, has anyone found the whereabouts of IT workers Lee and Kim who went missing yesterday?” Kangin inquired.

          “No sir, no one has heard from them; we checked with relatives and friends, nothing,” Changmin said.

          “Alright, keep me updated on if you find anything out,” Kangin requested.

          Changmin looked over at Donghae and saw him typing away at his desk computer. “Find anything?” he curiously asked.

          “No, actually typing an email to Dr. Kim,” Donghae revealed. “I’m trying to see when would be a good time to go visit Sungmin; I’ve been neglecting him lately because of Yesung’s case and yesterday’s bombing, and I wanna see how he’s doing, if the therapy is helping any.”

          “Have you talked to him any since he got taken to the psychiatric hospital?” Changmin wondered.

          “Not really,” Donghae sadly confessed. “I’ve been meaning to, but I’m either really tired after work or really stressed or, I don’t know, I’m probably just making excuses because I feel guilty about putting him there.”

          “Sungmin understands, he knows that you did put him there because you care about his wellbeing and wanna see him get better,” Changmin encouraged.

          “Still, I could’ve at least made more of an effort to communicate with him, especially when he first got there a month ago,” Donghae replied before pressing send on his email. “Hopefully Dr. Kim will get back to me soon and once this case closes, I can go see him.” Just before closing down his email, Donghae suddenly got a notification that he received a new message. “That was fast.”

          “Did the doctor respond already?” Changmin asked.

          Donghae saw that the email was sent from not Dr. Kim, but an unknown sender. “No, it’s from someone else, but I don’t know who,” the brunette detective said.

          Just then, Changmin’s computer beeped as well, then Siwon’s, then Seunghyun’s, the one by one, each computer in the precinct beeped indicating new emails were being received. “What the hell?” Seunghyun muttered as they stared at the other computers.

          The email contained no words, only a single video. Donghae swallowed roughly before hovering his mouse over the clip and curiously clicked play, allowing the video to become full screen. As soon as Donghae did that, it triggered all of the other computers to play the video as well. The video opened on two Korean men who had their heads covered with black pillowcases and on their knees with their hands tied behind their backs; they were both sobbing quietly, but appeared to be alone. Turning to Yoona, Donghae requested “Can you find out where this is being filmed?”

          “Yeah, give me a minute, I’ll track the location,” Yoona confirmed as she turned to an open computer and began typing away profusely.

          Almost immediately after, Donghae quickly faced the monitor again when he heard what sounded like footsteps approaching the screen. The precinct officers watched as Cho Kyuhyun stepped into view behind the two captured men, grinning before laughing to himself quietly. Staring right at the camera, Kyuhyun’s smile faded as he asked “Did you miss me Detective Lee?” Donghae’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped slightly as he, Siwon, Seunghyun, Changmin, and the rest of the officers froze. “This could’ve all been avoided,” Kyuhyun calmly continued. “If you would’ve just let me be with my Minnie, you could have prevented so many deaths. But no, you chose to be selfish and try to have me killed off, you try to incarcerate my accomplice, and on top of all that, upon learning that I’m still alive, you have the audacity to hide my Minnie where you think I can’t find him. Detective Lee, I will _always_ find my Minnie; if not through a computer, then through terror and interrogation, like how the police work.”

          The precinct watched as Kyuhyun looked off screen and nodded, before Yesung stepped into view. “Yoona, tell me you’re close on finding the location,” Donghae called while still keeping his eyes glued to the computer.

          “It’s running a diagnostic now, it’ll be just a minute,” Yoona informed.

          “Donghae, I worked with you for almost four years, I called you my friend; you were the only one at the precinct I trusted. I don’t remember everything that happened after Kyuhyun and I found our lovers, but I do know that you tried to turn Ryeowook against me. You all tried to fill his mind with thoughts of me being this evil person, when all I wanted was to love him and keep him safe. I even took care of the bastard who hurt him, something you all refused to do, even though he was a victim of domestic abuse. Now I know you hid him, I expected that much, but what I didn’t expect was that you would put a virtual lock on his file, making me take longer to find him; every minute that passes, he wonders where I’m at, why I’m not there to protect him, and you all are preventing me and Kyuhyun from being truly happy,” Yesung ranted as angry tears glistened across his irises.

          “So here’s how this new game of ours is gonna work,” Kyuhyun announced before he and Yesung each lifted up one of the black pillowcases, revealing the two men to be the kidnapped IT officers. Their faces were bruised and bloodied, and E.L.F. knew that Kyuhyun and Yesung had definitely tortured them like the previous victims. “Every week that passes and we don’t have our lovers back, we will kill officers from your precinct, one by one. The choice is yours, tell us where they are, or witness just how far we can truly go when pushed to our breaking point.”

          Donghae’s heart was pounding rapidly as he snapped his head around and asked “Have you found anything yet?”

          Yoona stared at her computer screen and revealed “It’s not a live broadcast, it’s a recording; the location signal is scrambled, I’ll have to decipher it.”

          Turning back to the screen, Donghae watched as Kyuhyun said “We’ll see just how loyal you cops are to one another.” The officers watched in horror as Kyuhyun pulled a revolver out and opened up the chamber before putting one bullet into it and closing the chamber back with a spin. Pressing the gun to the temple of one of the IT officers, Kyuhyun looked at the camera and demanded “Tell me where my Minnie is.”

          “We, we don’t know! We were never informed of his placement!” one of the officers screamed in fear.

          Kyuhyun pulled the trigger, causing everyone watching to jump as the gun simply clicked. Handing the revolver to Yesung, the raven haired Korean pressed the gun to the other IT officer’s head and questioned “Where is Kim Ryeowook?”

          “We have no idea, you think the IT workers know as much as the detectives? You of all people should know that!” the other officer retaliated, causing Yesung to smack his face with the butt of the gun.

          Pushing the barrel of the revolver harder against the officer’s head, Yesung lowly growled “I also know that IT officers have access to any file at any time, sometimes to look at details for a case, and other times to just look over it all out of sick, morbid curiosity. I will ask you only one more time, where is Kim Ryeowook?”

          “We don’t know,” the IT officer stated, trying not to let his voice shake. Yesung pulled the trigger, only for the gun to click a second time.

          After Yesung handed him the revolver, Kyuhyun said “If I were you both, I’d start praying for a miracle right about now.” Kneeling down next to the IT officer next to him, Kyuhyun pointed the barrel underneath his captive’s chin and muttered “Where the fuck is my Minnie?”

          The terrified officer was shaking and crying uncontrollably, but managed to say “I overheard Detective Lee mention that he put his cousin in a hospital in Incheon, but I swear that’s all I heard!”

          Kyuhyun disappointedly shook his head. “That’s old news to me, try again,” he said.

          The IT officer trembled in fear as he begged “Please, that’s all I know I swear on my life that’s all I know.” The officer jumped and gasped as the revolver clicked, before he watched the gun be handed back to Yesung.

          “Three empty rounds, how lucky do you feel right now?” Yesung questioned as he pointed the gun at the other IT officer. “Tell me where Ryeowook is.”

          “Why would I tell you, so you can go run off and be happy with him? Newsflash Yesung, you’re a fucking criminal, this is not something you’re gonna get away with!” the IT officer shrieked.

          Yesung started laughing before stating “What confident words from a dead man.”

          Pulling the trigger, the precinct officers jumped when this time, the gun did go off and fire a bullet directly through the IT officer’s skull, killing him instantly. Everyone held their breath as Yesung handed the gun back to Kyuhyun. The dark brunette Korean looked down at the other scared IT worker and calmly replied “You shared more than your partner, it seems you wanted to live more than he did. But sadly –” Kyuhyun paused briefly as he reached into his pocket and retrieved another bullet before loading it into the chamber, much to the horror of the IT officer and everyone watching. “One surviving witness is far too many.” He then shot the second IT officer in the head, killing him. After setting the gun down, Kyuhyun approached the camera and picked it up. Staring directly into the lens, Kyuhyun stated “You have five days Detective Lee, ready to play?” An evil grin appeared across Kyuhyun’s lips before the camera cut to black.

          “Fucking psycho,” Siwon muttered in a disgusting tone as the detectives looked at one another.

          “What now?” Changmin wondered. “He’s given us a deadline on top of everything else.”

          “We have to find them before the week is up or else one of us could be next,” Donghae replied. He turned to Yoona and desperately asked “Did you find anything?”

          “No, even with unscrambling the signal, at the time of recording the video, the signal bounced off hundreds of different frequencies all across Korea; it’ll take weeks to narrow it down a city, and even longer to find the exact location. These guys know how to cover their tracks,” Yoona informed.

          “We know,” Donghae agreed. Picking up his phone, the brunette detective walked into the break room and quickly dialed a number.

          “Incheon Mental Institution, how may I help you?” a nurse’s voice said from the other end of the line.

          “Yes, this is Detective Lee Donghae, I’m calling to talk to Dr. Kim about my cousin Lee Sungmin,” Donghae stated.

          “One moment Detective Lee,” the nurse responded before Donghae was put on hold.

          A few moments later, Donghae heard Dr. Kim say “Hello Detective Lee, what can I do for you?”

          “Yes, I was just calling to ask if anyone has visited Sungmin or called and asked about him lately,” Donghae replied.

          “No, not that our records show, has something new developed in the case?” Dr. Kim wondered.

          “We have evidence to believe that Cho Kyuhyun might be attempting to find Sungmin’s location through any means necessary; if anyone tries to contact the hospital about Sungmin who is not me, please immediately let me know,” Donghae requested.

          “Of course Detective Lee, anything we can do to be of assistance in finding this criminal,” Dr. Kim agreed.

          “Thank you so much; how is Sungmin? Is he doing alright, can I talk to him?” Donghae wondered.

          “Sungmin is responding to his therapy, very hesitant at first, but all the patients here are. He’s resting now, but I can have him call you sometime soon,” Dr. Kim stated.

          “Did he get adjusted well? I know I should’ve called sooner, but a lot has been going on here,” Donghae confessed.

          “It took him a few days, but I got him squared away and comfortable, and he is on the road to recovery from this Stockholm grasp that Cho Kyuhyun has on him,” Dr. Kim confidently informed.

          “Well that’s wonderful to hear,” Donghae replied with a smile. “Please tell him I miss him and will try to come see him just as soon as this case is closed.”

          “Of course detective,” Dr. Kim said before hanging up the phone. Sighing, Kim Kibum stood up from his desk and casually walked down the hallway, past rooms full of screaming, pleading patients, towards the elevator. Calmly, he rode up a few floors before stepping off and continuing his trek down a new hall. Reaching a specific room, Dr. Kim opened the door and entered the room. On the bed lie Sungmin, curled in the fetal position, not even fazed that the therapist was in his room. “Your cousin called just now, says that psychopath is still trying to look for you,” Kibum stated as he walked over and sat down on Sungmin’s bed, next to the motionless blonde Korean. He reached out and began stroking Sungmin’s hair as he whispered “Don’t worry, I won’t let him take you; I’m not finished playing with you yet.”

          Silent tears rolled down Sungmin’s cheeks as he felt Dr. Kim’s hands begin to move down his body. “I, I want to go home,” Sungmin muttered out, just barely audible. “I want Kyuhyun.”

          Dr. Kim chuckled quietly before pulling a syringe out of his coat pocket. “It’s time for your afternoon appointment,” he said before turning over Sungmin’s forearm, revealing dark red spots from where needles had been jabbed into his skin in search of veins. Slowly, Kibum inserted the needle into Sungmin’s arm, causing the blonde to almost immediately fall unconscious. Dr. Kim signaled to two male nurses out in the hallway who came into the room, lifted Sungmin out of bed, and carried him behind Dr. Kim into another room at the end of the hallway. After the nurses lay Sungmin down on a table and left, Kibum shut the door, locking it behind him, before turning back to face the still knocked out Sungmin. He went back to stroking Sungmin’s hair, before letting his hands venture down the blonde’s chest as he started unbuttoning Sungmin’s shirt, opening it up to reveal his milky flesh. Dr. Kim let his eyes drink in Sungmin’s figure as his fingertips traced across his torso and stomach. “Minnie,” he gently whispered to the drugged blonde.

          Sungmin could feel hands on his skin and hear someone calling to him, but the medicine was making him delirious and unable to recognize the voice, however Sungmin knew it had to have been the only person who referred to him as that. “Kyuhyun?” he longingly pleaded, hoping it was his lover.

          Hearing Sungmin say Kyuhyun’s name, Dr. Kim grinned maliciously and shushed him. “Minnie, who am I?” he questioned.

          Immediately, the blonde replied “Kyuhyun, please, are you Kyuhyun?”

          “Yes, it’s me,” Dr. Kim lied as he slid his fingers through the blonde’s hair. “I’ve missed you.”

          “I wanna see you,” Sungmin mumbled. “But I can’t open my eyes, they feel so tired.”

          Dr. Kim shushed him once more before leaning forward to brush his lips across Sungmin’s eyelids. “It’s alright, I can see you,” he whispered.

          “Please, take me away like you promised, I don’t wanna stay here,” Sungmin begged as he began to cry.

          “I think it’s best you stay here now,” Dr. Kim advised.

          “What?” Sungmin whimpered in a confused voice. “But, but you promised –”

          “I know, but I realized I cannot take care of you like I thought; I think Dr. Kim can take better care of you than I ever could,” Kibum continued.

          “Kyuhyun no, please –” Sungmin cried, tears spilling out of his still closed eyes.

          “Let Dr. Kim take care of you now Minnie,” Kibum muttered. “Now it’s time for you to rest, I’ll help you go to sleep.” Dr. Kim then started gently rubbing his hand over Sungmin’s thigh, and grinned as he heard the blonde start moaning Kyuhyun’s name. As Sungmin finally calmed down and drifted off to sleep, Dr. Kim added “Don’t worry Sungmin, soon it won’t be his name escaping your lips.”


	8. Chapter 8

*Four days later* 

With the time limit almost up, the E.L.F., along with the rest of the 18th Precinct, sat on pins and needles, anxious to know if Kyuhyun and Yesung were going to fulfill their promise of attacking more officers. They had tried tirelessly over the last few days to track down the pair of psychos, but came up with nothing; no witnesses, no monetary transactions, and because of Yesung’s computer skills, Yoona had been unable to get a proper location on any web activity the two might have done. With the end of their exhausting, thirteen hour shifts close, the E.L.F. sat at their desks both worried and tired after getting nowhere closer to finding their targets. The stress of it all was beginning to pile onto the four, especially Donghae. Since Kyuhyun had singled out Donghae during the recording, Kangin had thought it appropriate that Donghae have twenty four hour watch on his street until Kyuhyun and Yesung were found. Donghae didn’t object to this since it made him feel better knowing there were cops constantly close to Hyukjae should something happen. Kangin had also instructed Changmin, Siwon, Donghae, and Seunghyun to brush up on their weapons training, just in case. As the night officers entered the precinct to relieve the daytime officers, Changmin said “They must get a kick out of this, torturing us mentally for four days, making us wonder who’s gonna be next.”

“Of course they do, they’re fucking psychos, they get off on shit like this,” Seunghyun confirmed. 

“Well, I hope to see all of you in the morning,” Siwon encouraged as the four walked down the front steps of the precinct. 

The others nodded in agreement before the detectives parted ways and headed for home in their vehicles. Donghae drove back to his apartment, subtly waving to the fellow officers sitting in a car at the end of the block. Riding up the elevator to his floor, Donghae then entered his apartment and found it dark, except for the light in the kitchen, indicating that Hyukjae had already gone to bed. Sighing, Donghae opened up the refrigerator and pulled out a plate of food that Hyukjae had prepared for him. After heating it up for a minute, the brunette silently ate alone at the table, pausing ever so often to think about all that had transcribed over the past few months. Standing up, Donghae flipped the light switch in the kitchen, allowing darkness to swallow up the apartment completely. Making his way into the bedroom he shared with Hyukjae, Donghae sat on the edge of the bed and removed his shirt and pants before lying down under the blanket. As he exhaled deeply, Donghae felt Hyukjae turn over and slip an arm around his torso, pressing his chest to Donghae’s back and his cheek to Donghae’s shoulder blade. “How was your shift?” Hyukjae whispered. 

“I still couldn’t find them,” Donghae confessed, placing his hand on top of Hyukjae’s. 

“Don’t worry, you will, I know you will,” Hyukjae encouraged, placing a kiss on Donghae’s shoulder. 

The brunette detective turned over and wrapped his arms around Hyukjae, pulling the blonde close to him before kissing his lips gently. “How did therapy go today?” Donghae wondered, stroking his fingertips across Hyukjae’s bangs. 

“It went well, you know what they say, one day at a time,” Hyukjae replied. 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be there with you,” Donghae muttered. 

“You don’t have to apologize, I know you’re working hard,” Hyukjae said burying his face in Donghae’s neck. 

Donghae kissed Hyukjae again before whispering “I love you.” 

“I love you too,” the blonde sleepily echoed as he fell back to sleep in Donghae’s embrace. Following Hyukjae’s lead, Donghae closed his eyes and fell asleep as well. 

The next morning, the brunette detective was awakened by his loud, buzzing phone. Groaning, Donghae rolled over and groggily answered “Detective Lee.” 

“Donghae, I know it’s early, but I need you to come in right away. Three officers didn’t show up today, and their wives called to say they never even came home last night. I’ve already called Siwon, Changmin, and Seunghyun, and I need you guys to come in and see if you can figure out what happened,” Kangin explained. 

Sighing, Donghae slowly said “Captain, you and I both already know what has probably happened to them; it’s been five days.” 

“I know Donghae, but we have a responsibility to look for our fellow officers when they are missing. We’ll talk more when you four get here,” Kangin replied. 

“Alright,” Donghae agreed before hanging up the phone. Looking over at Hyukjae, who was still sleeping peacefully beside him, Donghae pressed a kiss to his neck, whispering “I’ll be home later tonight, love you.” 

Getting out of bed, Donghae quickly changed back into his police uniform and headed back towards the precinct, meeting the other E.L.F. members inside. “What do we know so far?” Siwon inquired as the Captain approached them. 

“This morning, I got a call from the wives of Detectives Kim, Oh, and Choi. According to them, the detectives were going out for a drink after work like they normally would, however their wives said they would always make it a point to be home by midnight. When they weren’t home by one this morning, Detective Oh’s wife called the bar they usually would go to and found that they had left hours ago with two unknown men, who we can safely assume are Kyuhyun and Yesung, she then called Detective Kim’s wife and Detective Choi’s wife, who reported the same thing. The wives also said that the bartender had told them that the detectives seemed to be disoriented as they were led out, which more than likely means that they were drugged,” Kangin informed.

“But these three weren’t even on Kyuhyun and Yesung’s case, so why were they targeted?” Seunghyun wondered.

“You think they’re just going after any officer from the precinct without prejudice?” Changmin inquired. 

“I wouldn’t put it past them,” Donghae muttered. “We could go through their arrest records and see if maybe there was a case they handled that could provide some kind of insight.” 

“That could work,” Siwon agreed. 

“Okay, Donghae and Changmin, you two pull up the arrest records for Detectives Kim, Oh, and Choi and see if you can find anything linking them to Kyuhyun and Yesung in any way; Siwon and Seunghyun, I want you two to go to the bar where the three were last seen and show the bartenders Kyuhyun and Yesung’s pictures and see if they were the ones who left with the officers,” Kangin instructed.

“Yes sir,” the four said before beginning their assigned tasks. 

After retrieving the appropriate files, Donghae and Changmin began flipping through past arrest accounts to see if they could find any connection. “They seem to have handled a lot of domestic abuse cases, especially over the past couple of years, and mostly called to the same address,” Changmin noticed. “Victim on the repeated abuse case was –” 

Donghae waited to hear Changmin’s response, but found his fellow officer was silent. Turning to Changmin, Donghae saw his horrified, frozen expression, causing the brunette’s heart to pound nervously. “What is it Changmin?” Donghae asked. 

Changmin laid the file down and pushed it towards Donghae. “Read the name of the victim on the repeat offender,” he requested. 

Picking up the file, Donghae’s mouth dropped open slightly as he muttered “The victim was Kim Ryeowook.” Turning to Changmin, Donghae realized “Yesung chose to go after the officers who worked Kim Ryeowook’s abuse case.” 

“It would make sense why he would hold a grudge against them; didn’t he say that the officers never did anything to help Ryeowook?” Changmin recalled. 

Donghae nodded. “Ryeowook would never cooperate with the police because of psychological trauma, and quite honestly, I don’t think the officers cared too much,” he informed. 

An hour later, Siwon and Seunghyun returned to the precinct. “Well we showed Kyuhyun and Yesung’s picture to the workers, and they do recognize them, albeit barely since it was late,” Siwon confirmed. 

“We also asked to see the security cameras, and there is hard evidence that Kyuhyun and Yesung were there, and it’s clear that they drugged and left with the officers,” Seunghyun continued. 

“Why would they let themselves be filmed here when part of their original M.O. was cutting off camera reception?” Siwon wondered. 

“Because it’s part of the game,” Donghae replied. “Because they want us to know that they took the officers, they’re taunting us again.” 

Just then, the dreaded sound of an incoming email rang from Donghae’s desk computer. The four turned to the computer before Donghae slowly sat down and opened up the untitled email, finding no words, only a single video. Expecting the worse, Donghae swallowed roughly and clicked on the video, causing it to become full screen. One by one, each computer screen in the precinct was filled with the same video, just like last time. The 18th Precinct watched as Kyuhyun appeared on camera with a grin. “Hello all,” he said calmly. “Have you been anticipating my next video? Well then I shall not disappoint.” Kyuhyun grabbed the camera and kept it in front of him as he began walking. “For this recording, I’m taking more of a backseat to the action and allowing Yesung to take center stage since these fuckers affected his life more than mine.” After stopping, Kyuhyun set the camera down on what was presumably a tripod, before adjusting the focus accordingly. The officers held their breath as Kyuhyun stepped out of sight to reveal the three kidnapped detectives bound and gagged, on top of a large metal table. Behind them stood Yesung, his dark bangs covering sinister looking eyes as he gazed at the vulnerable prey in front of him. “You’re on,” Kyuhyun signaled before Yesung stood up. 

The raven haired Korean began to slowly circle his victims, and Donghae caught a glimpse of a small knife that Yesung held tightly in his fist. “Do any of you know why you were chosen?” Yesung questioned. Getting nothing but inaudible responses, he continued “It was of course a rhetorical question; you were chosen because of the lack of empathy you showed towards someone I love, someone who was a victim of horrendous abuse time and time again, and yet you three still did nothing. Even after he was brought in with black eyes, bruised ribs, and evidence of sexual assault by his boyfriend, you three sat on your asses and did nothing! Now I’ve taken care of that son of a bitch, and made sure he felt every bit of pain that was inflicted on him, and since none of you wanted to help Ryeowook when he needed help the most, you are all going to feel every bit of pain that I deem fit.” 

The E.L.F. watched, along with the rest of the precinct, as Yesung proceeded to cut open one pant leg on each of the officers before placing his knife on the outer region of one of their thighs, carving deep into the flesh as blood began to pour out and the officer let out a muffled scream while Yesung moved onto the others. Once they all had been cut, Yesung casually explained “I’ve just sliced into your sciatic nerves, the most sensitive nerve in the entire body; it feels pain ten times greater than any other place, so your pain will be amplified.” Everyone watched in horror as Yesung retrieved a large container of bleach and unscrewed the cap before placing a protective mask over his face. “Now, this will not kill you, although it will make you beg for death, which is what I want to hear.” The raven haired Korean then started pouring bleach into the bleeding wounds, causing the entire 18th Precinct to squirm and flinch at the sight of the bubbling wounds, and even caused Yoona to cover her mouth and turn away from looking at the screen. The captive officers screamed loudly into their gags as their bodies convulsed in pain. “Now you feel the physical pain of Ryeowook’s emotional torture; this is what he felt when you refused to do your fucking jobs and help him! Now you know what it’s like to feel helpless, vulnerable, and in unimaginable pain.” Yesung began to splash bleach all over the bound detectives as he circled them again. “I’m not going to bother you with tedious questioning about where Ryeowook is, because I know you won’t tell me and it would be quicker to find him myself, however, I will make sure you three never fuck up your jobs again.” Flicking his lighter, Yesung set each of the officers on fire as he, Kyuhyun, and the rest of the precinct watched the three burn to death in agony. 

With the detectives still burning, Kyuhyun picked up the camera and held it in front of himself as he and Yesung began walking away from the dying men. “Now I’m sure you’re all wondering who we will be coming after next, I know you’re especially curious Detective Lee,” Kyuhyun taunted. “But you know it doesn’t have to be like this; just tell me where my Minnie is and tell Yesung where his little friend is, and all of this will stop just as quickly as it started. I’m not going to reveal your time limit for this round Detective Lee, however I will say that you better make up your mind soon. You have the ability to stop this, Detective Lee, or you can continue to be selfish and let more people die because of you, but just know you will have to live with the consequences of your choice. I’ll see you real soon detective.” The camera then cut to a black screen as the recording ended. 

Donghae felt his heart pound loudly against his chest as he sat there motionless for several seconds, as he and the other officers took in what they had just witnessed. “He’s just trying to intimidate you Donghae,” Siwon reassured, seeing his partner’s expression.

“Well he’s doing a hell of a good job,” Donghae snapped as he stood up. While pacing the room, Donghae felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Looking at the screen, Donghae didn’t recognize the number, but went ahead and answered “Hello, Detective Lee Donghae.” 

“Did you enjoy our latest video installment detective?” came Cho Kyuhyun’s voice from the other end of the line. 

Donghae’s eyes widened. “I saw it, but in no way did I enjoy it,” he replied. The brunette rushed over to Yoona’s desk, and silently requested that she track the location of where the phone call was coming from. Yoona understood and began typing away quickly on her computer. 

“I want to tell you a little story Detective Lee,” Kyuhyun stated. “There was once a child who walked into an animal shelter with his father. The child wanted to adopt and save all of the animals, but his father told him to only pick one to save. ‘Which one should I choose? Which one will I save?’ the boy asked himself out loud over and over again. His father kept rushing him to make a choice, but the boy wanted them all to be saved and couldn’t choose which one he wanted more. Finally, his father had had enough, and he and his child left the store empty handed, leaving the boy heartbroken, because he couldn’t choose one to save, he ended up with nothing in the end.” 

“That’s a wonderful story, but why are you telling me that?” Donghae questioned, trying to keep his voice calm. 

“Because you are now that little boy Detective Lee, and it’s time for you to choose who you want to save,” Kyuhyun informed. 

Just then, Yoona waved to Donghae and handed him a sticky note with the street name of where Kyuhyun’s call was coming from. When Donghae read the note, he felt his heart stop beating and his world come to a crashing halt as he shakily muttered “Y-you’re on my street.”

“Choose Detective Lee, who do you want to save more, your cousin, my precious Minnie, or your new lover, because when this is all over, you will not walk away with both,” Kyuhyun remarked. 

Donghae’s body trembled as hot tears stung his eyes. “Don’t you fucking touch him,” he lowly threatened. 

Kyuhyun chuckled before jeering “Bet you didn’t expect this curveball, did you Detective Lee?” The dark brunette Korean then hung up his phone. 

Donghae didn’t say a word, instead just ran out of the precinct, towards his vehicle. “Where’s Donghae going?” Changmin wondered. 

“He got a call from a mysterious number and had me track it, and this address came up,” Yoona explained as she handed the other E.L.F. members the same sticky note she’d just showed Donghae. 

Speeding frantically down the road, Donghae dialed Hyukjae’s cell phone. “C’mon baby, please pick up,” he muttered as the dial tone rang a couple of times.

“Hello?” Hyukjae greeted when he answered. 

“Hyukjae, listen to me, are the doors and windows locked?” Donghae questioned.

“Yes,” Hyukjae confirmed.

“Are the officers still at the end of the street?” Donghae continued.

“I don’t know I haven’t checked in a while; Donghae what’s going on, you’re making me nervous,” Hyukjae inquired. 

“Hyukjae, please go hide somewhere in the apartment,” Donghae requested. 

“What?” the blonde confusedly asked. 

“Please Hyukjae, just do what I say,” Donghae begged as hot tears streamed down his face. “I’ll explain more when I get there, but please hide and don’t say a word; I’m gonna stay on the phone with you until I get there.” 

Suddenly, Donghae heard a loud banging sound in the background before listening to Hyukjae open and close a door, shaky breath filling the silent void. A few moments later, Donghae heard someone open the door and say “There you are,” before hearing Hyukjae scream his name repeatedly for help. 

“Hyukjae, Hyukjae it’s okay baby I’m almost there, I’m coming, it’s gonna be okay,” Donghae quickly promised, trying to calm down the blonde. 

Hyukjae’s screams turned to muffled cries before Kyuhyun’s voice said over the phone “Don’t be too long Detective Lee, wouldn’t want you to miss all the fun.” The line then went dead. Donghae dropped his phone into the passenger seat and pressed his foot against the gas pedal, desperately trying to reach Hyukjae before it was too late.


	9. Chapter 9

Once he reached the end of his street, Donghae brought his vehicle to a screeching halt, scrambling out quickly before running over to the police car that was stationed there. Knocking on the window, Donghae called “Hey we’ve got a situation, I need you guys to back me up.” When the officers didn’t move, Donghae knocked on the window once more. “C’mon this is no time to fuck around, my boyfriend is in danger.” When the officers still didn’t move, Donghae frustratingly opened up the door, about to yell at them again when he paused. The two officers had large, bleeding gashes on the sides of their heads, presumably from being bludgeoned. Donghae pulled out his radio and signaled out “This is Detective Lee Donghae, I’m on Gusog Avenue right outside my apartment; I’ve got two officers down with signs of assault from blunt force trauma. Wanted criminals Cho Kyuhyun and Kim Yesung are suspected to be in my apartment assumed to be armed and dangerous, I’m heading in now, back up is requested immediately.” Pulling out his service gun, Donghae made his way up the sidewalk before crossing the street, entering his apartment building. 

“Captain, Donghae just sent out at 10-33,” Siwon informed as the E.L.F. rushed into Kangin’s office. 

“What?” Kangin remarked. 

“Yeah, Kyuhyun and Yesung are at his apartment right now, we’ve gotta go back him up,” Changmin replied. 

“Go, all of you go, I’ll send the other officers out, as well as the S.W.A.T. team, let’s not take any chances with these lunatics; just remember to be cautious, you all know what they’re capable of,” Kangin instructed. 

“Yes sir,” the officers stated before rushing out of the precinct. 

Donghae exited the elevator on the appropriate floor and cautiously but swiftly moved down the hallway, his gun at the ready. Silence filled the hallway, only the sound of Donghae’s rapid heartbeat could be heard. Reaching his hand out, Donghae gripped the apartment door handle before opening the door, calling “Cho Kyuhyun, Yesung?” The brunette detective stepped into his apartment, quickly looking around the kitchen, but not seeing either perpetrator. Donghae then heard what sounded like crying, coming from the living room; clutching his gun tightly, Donghae walked into the living room and found Hyukjae, alone, tied to a chair with his hands behind his back and a gag over his mouth. Upon seeing Donghae, Hyukjae let out muffled cries and struggled against the restraints. Without thinking, Donghae put his gun back in his holster and rushed over to the blonde, placing his hands on Hyukjae’s face. “Hyukjae, it’s okay, it’s alright I’m here, you’re okay,” Donghae said. As he tried to undo the mouth gag, Hyukjae suddenly let out another stifled scream, causing Donghae to stop and reach for his gun. Just as he put his hand on his weapon, Donghae was knocked out by something striking him across the face. 

Groaning, Donghae’s head throbbed as he opened his eyes minutes later, finding himself tied to a chair with duct tape over his mouth, across the room from Hyukjae; standing just behind Hyukjae was Yesung, and Donghae could see how shaken Hyukjae was as he pleaded for help with his eyes. “Well thank you for finally showing up Detective Lee,” Kyuhyun stated as he walked into the living room from the direction of Sungmin’s bedroom, carrying a duffel bag with him. “I thought while I was here picking up some things for Minnie, we might be able to finally have a sit down.” Kyuhyun dragged a chair from the kitchen table and placed in directed in front of Donghae before sitting down casually. “Now, let’s discuss where Minnie is.” Kyuhyun reached forward and ripped off the duct tape from Donghae’s lips. 

“You’re not getting away this time, I called for backup before I came inside, they’ll be here any minute,” Donghae informed confidently. 

Kyuhyun smirked before replying “You think we didn’t expect that? Give us some credit Detective Lee, we are a tad bit smarter than that.”

“What are you talking about?” Donghae nervously asked. 

Kyuhyun turned to Yesung and said “Do it.” Yesung nodded and dialed a number on his phone; Donghae’s heart pounded louder each time the dial tone rang out. 

Siwon, Changmin, and Seunghyun, along with the rest of the 18th Precinct officers and the S.W.A.T. team sped down the road to Donghae’s location. “You think we’re too late, honestly?” Seunghyun wondered.

“No, if I know Donghae, he’ll do –” Siwon started before a loud explosion caused them to swerve slightly before stomping on the brakes. 

Turning back, the E.L.F. saw two police cars behind them engulfed in flames. “Oh shit,” Seunghyun muttered. 

Climbing out of the car, Siwon, Changmin, and Seunghyun watched other cars swerve to avoid the flames, resulting in several crashes and trapping the S.W.A.T. team on the other side of the fire. “Oh my God,” Changmin mumbled as the three looked at the destruction that had just occurred. 

“What did you do?” Donghae questioned. 

Smiling, Kyuhyun reached forward and took Donghae’s police radio, turning the volume up before setting it on the coffee table. “Why don’t you let your fellow detectives tell you?” Kyuhyun suggested. “They should be calling your douchebag of a captain in a few moments.” 

Donghae’s heart pounded loudly against his chest, but found what Kyuhyun said to be true when over the radio, he heard Siwon signal out “Captain, we’ve got a situation.”

“What happened?” Kangin inquired.

“We’re about ten minutes out from Donghae’s apartment, and two police cars have exploded in the middle of Bogsu Road. We’ve got multiple casualties, both police and civilian, we need medical assistance now; Seunghyun has already called the Gangnam Fire Department, and Changmin is trying to get the traffic situated so we can get the rest of the people to safety,” Siwon explained. 

“Alright, once the Gangnam FD and the ambulances gets there, you three continue onto Donghae’s apartment,” Kangin instructed. 

“Sir, you know this was probably Kyuhyun and Yesung’s doing,” Siwon stated. 

“I know,” Kangin remarked. 

Kyuhyun then muted the radio volume, looking at Donghae’s shocked face. “Your detective friends are smart, I didn’t expect them to guess it was us this fast,” Kyuhyun mocked. 

“You’re a fucking psychopath,” Donghae said. 

That caused Kyuhyun to backhand Donghae across the face roughly, leaving a red mark on the brunette detective’s cheek; watching Donghae get hit made Hyukjae emit muffled cries from across the room. “I’m getting sick and tired of people calling me that,” Kyuhyun frustratingly replied. “I’m not a psycho, I’m just dedicated and devoted to my beloved; normal people say the same thing about their loved ones.”

“Normal people don’t go out and kill others just because something happens to their loved ones, that’s why we have a judicial system!” Donghae responded.

“And how well has this system worked, Detective Lee?” Kyuhyun snapped. “The judicial system is a rigged joke, it only helps those that it deems worthy, and where does that leave the rest of us? It forces us to take matters into our own hands when well-deserved justice is denied. We’re just trying to right the wrongs in our lives Detective Lee; you would do the same if you were presented with the opportunity, that’s why you began a cop isn’t it?”

“I became a cop to protect people from monsters like you,” Donghae stated through gritted teeth. “And don’t ever compare me to you, we are nothing alike.” 

“Well let’s just test that,” Kyuhyun suggested. Walking over to the kitchen, Kyuhyun grabbed a large knife out of the cutlery block before heading back into the living room, standing next to Hyukjae. The blonde began to tremble and rapidly breathe against the gag in his mouth as he closed his eyes tightly. “What would you do if I just slit his fucking throat right now?” Kyuhyun questioned, holding the blade against Hyukjae’s Adam’s apple, causing the blonde to cry harder, letting out another muffled scream. 

“Don’t fucking touch him!” Donghae demanded, yanking against his own restraints. 

“What would you do Detective Lee? Would you arrest me and let your precious judicial system attempt to do its job, or would you kill me yourself and be rid of me?” Kyuhyun inquired. “I know your blood is boiling, I see the rage in your eyes, that is the same rage I feel when you keep Minnie hidden from me, that is the rage that I felt when Minnie hurt himself because of what your fucking captain did to him. So tell me Detective Lee, what would you do if I killed your lover?” 

Donghae had tears glistening in his eyes as he locked his gaze with Hyukjae, who was beyond terrified and letting out muffled cries into his gag. “I would arrest you, only after beating you to the point where you would beg me to kill you,” Donghae admitted. 

“And that is where we differ Detective Lee,” Kyuhyun stated. “As you’ve witnessed, if something happens to my lover, I do not hesitate to kill those who have hurt him. You would choose to go by the moral guidebook, and that’s why I will always be better than you and always one step ahead of you. Now, tell me where my Minnie is, you know what I’ll do if you don’t.” 

Kyuhyun pushed the knife slightly deeper into Hyukjae’s neck, making the blonde groan against his mouth gag. “Stop, don’t hurt him,” Donghae ordered, pulling against his own restraints again. 

“Then tell me what I want to know,” Kyuhyun remarked, pushing the blade a little further. 

Hyukjae began crying harder, and Donghae could see droplets of blood beginning to roll down the blonde’s throat from where the knife was cutting into him. “Goddammit stop it! Kill me instead, just leave him alone, you’ve done enough to him, just kill me, please just kill me!” Donghae begged as hot tears started escaping his eyes. 

“Oh I will Detective Lee, just not yet, you’re too much fun,” Kyuhyun sadistically said. “But for now, just watch as I cut open your lover and let him bleed.” 

Hearing Kyuhyun say that caused Yesung to zone out temporarily; the raven haired Korean slowly recalled a memory that he’d lost. Yesung closed his eyes and gripped his head, remembering Kyuhyun holding Ryeowook with a knife to his throat while he held Sungmin with a lighter to his skin. “How about I cut open your pet and let him bleed?” Yesung heard Kyuhyun say in his head as he remembered seeing Ryeowook’s terrified face, begging for help. Opening his eyes, Yesung took a breath before turning to Kyuhyun. “Wait a minute,” he requested. 

“What?” Kyuhyun demanded, pulling the knife away from Hyukjae’s neck. 

“Not this one, there’s someone else we can pry the information out of and torture ten times worse, someone who you should hate more than Donghae,” Yesung offered. 

“And who would that be?” Kyuhyun wondered. Yesung looked at Donghae and then leaned forward and whispered something to Kyuhyun. “Oh, he would be more fun to play with,” Kyuhyun agreed. “But if he doesn’t talk, we come back to the original plan.”

“That’s fine, I’m sure he’ll talk,” Yesung confidently replied. Just then, Kyuhyun and Yesung turned as they heard police sirens in the near distance. “Looks like they’re almost here.” 

Kyuhyun smirked before looking down at Hyukjae as he roughly gripped his face. “It’s your lucky day you little bitch, be grateful,” he stated. Turning back to Yesung, Kyuhyun continued “I’m gonna get the rest of Minnie’s things, and then we’ll leave and start on the new plan.” 

After Kyuhyun disappeared down the hall into Sungmin’s room, Yesung walked up to Donghae and muttered “You owe me now Donghae.”

“What?” the brunette inquired. 

“I stopped Kyuhyun from killing your boyfriend, remember that,” Yesung whispered. 

Kyuhyun then appeared back in the living room, hoisting a duffel bag over his shoulder. “Yesung, go get the car ready, I’ve got one more thing to take care of,” he instructed. 

“Alright,” Yesung agreed as he exited the apartment. 

After Yesung was gone, Kyuhyun picked up the large kitchen knife again and leaned close to Donghae. “It was nice being able to finally chat Detective Lee, and hopefully next time Minnie can join us. Now, I shall leave you with a small parting gift,” Kyuhyun informed. Donghae inhaled sharply as Kyuhyun thrust the knife into his lower abdomen, earning another muffled scream from Hyukjae. The brunette detective felt his breathing stagger as the pain took over. “Don’t worry Detective Lee, I’m not going to kill you yet; I want Minnie to be there and witness as you take your last breath. However, this should slow you down just long enough for us to plan out our next tactic. Give my best to your captain Detective Lee, and pray that the next victim tells us everything.” Kyuhyun yanked out the large knife before casually cutting Donghae’s restraints, allowing the detective to grip his stomach and fall forward onto the ground in pain as blood began to pool under him. 

Donghae felt his body shake as he tried to turn and look at Kyuhyun, but found the criminal was gone, and his apartment door wide open. The brunette tried to slow his breathing as he kept a hand firmly against his abdomen, attempting to reduce the amount of blood loss. Looking up, Donghae saw Hyukjae still struggling against his own restraints, desperately trying to free himself as tears poured from his eyes. Using his remaining strength, Donghae slowly began to drag his body across the floor to the other side of the room where Hyukjae was, occasionally stopping to grip his wound tighter. “Hyukjae, I’m coming,” Donghae gasped out, now just a couple of feet away. Reaching up one of his blood-soaked hands, Donghae managed to touch Hyukjae’s knee before collapsing on the floor. As Donghae closed his eyes, he heard the E.L.F. call his name. 

Opening his eyes, Donghae found himself in a hospital bed with Changmin, Siwon, Seunghyun, and Kangin standing around him. “How’re you feeling?” Changmin asked. 

“Not as bad as I was expecting,” Donghae admitted. 

“That’s because they got you on that good stuff,” Seunghyun informed. 

“Where’s Hyukjae? I need to go find Hyukjae,” Donghae inquired as he began sitting up. 

His team stopped him and gently coaxed him to lay back down as Kangin explained “He’s doing fine, he’s in another room being treated for a small cut on his neck, but that’s about all the physical trauma he experienced this time. You on the other hand, have a wound in your abdomen that’s going to take a few days to heal.”

“When can I go home?” Donghae asked. 

“You’ll have to ask your doctor on that, but until Kyuhyun and Yesung are found, you’re going to need to stay in a hotel or one of the safe houses,” Kangin added. “Partly because your apartment is a crime scene at the moment, and partly because they tried to kill you.”

“That wasn’t his plan,” Donghae muttered. 

“What do you mean?” Siwon questioned.

“Kyuhyun said that he was going to wait and kill me in front of Sungmin, and that this was just a warning,” Donghae replied. “Also, Yesung stopped Kyuhyun from killing Hyukjae, saying that there was someone else they could go after instead.”

“Wait, Yesung stopped Kyuhyun?” Changmin repeated. 

“Yeah, I don’t know, Kyuhyun said something and Yesung got this weird look on his face, and next thing I know he stopped Kyuhyun,” Donghae recalled. 

“Who are they going after next?” Seunghyun wondered.

“I couldn’t hear them, but from the way they were talking, it’s very likely it’s someone in this room,” Donghae confessed as he, Siwon, Changmin, Seunghyun, and Kangin looked at one another. 

Just then, a nurse knocked on the door before entering the room. “Detective Lee, someone named Lee Hyukjae is asking to see you,” she stated. 

“Please let him in,” Donghae requested. 

“We’ll let you have some time alone with him, and time to rest. We will come back tomorrow and check on you,” Kangin promised as he and the rest of the E.L.F. wished Donghae well and left the room just as Hyukjae rushed in. 

Hurrying over to Donghae, the blonde wrapped his arms tightly around the detective as the two held one another and cried quietly. “I thought I lost you,” Hyukjae mumbled, burying his face in Donghae’s neck. 

Donghae trembled against his boyfriend as he sobbed “I’m sorry, Hyukjae I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you.” 

“You did everything you could Donghae,” Hyukjae responded. 

“I want to send you somewhere safe for a little while,” Donghae started. He saw Hyukjae nervously shake his head and added “Hyukjae, baby listen to me; it’s just until we catch those bastards. They’ve already gotten to you twice, and I will not allow them to get you another time. I know some people who are trained in the medical field, who I’m very close to, that live in Suwon, who will help take care of you until it’s safe here again. Please, please trust me and do this, I love you and I want to keep you safe, and this is the only option I have left. No one but me will know you’re there, and I’ll come get you as soon as Kyuhyun and Yesung are reprehended.” 

After a moment of silence, Hyukjae nodded and said “Okay, I trust you.” 

Donghae tightened his embrace around Hyukjae and promised “They will take care of you, they’ll keep you safe.” 

The next day, after being released from the hospital, Donghae and Hyukjae were escorted by E.L.F. back to their apartment so that Hyukjae could retrieve some of this personal things. Following a thirty minute silent drive to the city of Suwon, their vehicle pulled up to a nice looking apartment building. “We’ll be right back,” Donghae informed as he and Hyukjae exited the car and headed into the building.   
Riding up to the appropriate floor, Donghae and Hyukjae walked down the hallway before stopping as Donghae knocked on a door. A few moments later, an older woman opened the door with a smile as she warmly said “Donghae.”

“Hi mom,” Donghae greeted. “This is Hyukjae, the one I told you about last night on the phone.”

“Oh yes, please do come in,” Mrs. Lee beckoned, letting her son and Hyukjae inside. “How are you feeling after your ordeal yesterday?” 

“I’m fine mom, the doctors fixed the wound fast and it didn’t causing any internal bleeding so I’ll be healed in no time,” Donghae explained. “Where’s dad?”

“You know your father, he’s at the river fishing again; that’s all he seems to do now that he’s retired, but I suppose it’s a relaxing hobby for him,” Mrs. Lee remarked. “Now, what kind of care does Hyukjae require?” 

As Donghae began listing off the many medicines and ointments that Hyukjae needed in order to heal, the blonde stood up and walked into another room, causing Donghae to pause and go after him. “Hyukjae, what’s wrong?” he asked.

“This isn’t how I wanted to meet your parents, I wanted to be fully healed and halfway back to normal, not be some burden to them. I don’t want them thinking I’m not good enough for you,” Hyukjae explained, lowering his head. 

Donghae slid his arms around the blonde and whispered “They won’t think that, because they’ve known about you for several weeks. My mother was an ER nurse for thirty five years and knows how to be sensitive to trauma victims. There’s not a nurse I trust more in the world than my own mom, and I know she will take extra special care of you.” 

“Hyukjae?” Mrs. Lee asked as she entered the room. 

The blonde wiped his eyes quickly and replied “Yes?” 

“Would you like me to make you something to eat?” the older woman offered. 

Hyukjae smiled and confirmed “Yes, thank you Mrs. Lee, I would greatly appreciate it.” 

Donghae placed a kiss on Hyukjae’s forehead and then his lips before wishing his mother and boyfriend goodbye, heading back down to join his team. “He okay?” Changmin wondered. 

Grinning, Donghae responded “Yeah, he’s gonna be just fine. C’mon, let’s head back to the precinct and get to work.” 

Meanwhile, in the Incheon Mental Institution, Sungmin was being subjected to his second daily aversion therapy technique that Dr. Kim had required for him. The method involved Sungmin have electrical wires taped to his forehead and pelvis, and each time Dr. Kim asked him a question about whether or not he still loved Kyuhyun, if Sungmin said yes, or even said Kyuhyun’s name, Dr. Kim would send electric, painful shocks through the blonde’s body, resulting in Sungmin crying and begging for it to stop. “I will only stop once you accept that he isn’t coming for you and that he doesn’t love you anymore,” Dr. Kim stated. 

“Please let me go home,” Sungmin pleaded. “I miss him.”

“You poor thing,” Kibum muttered as he stroked the back of his hand across Sungmin’s cheek. “Let me make you feel better.” Kibum then reached for a syringe on the table and injected a teal colored liquid into Sungmin’s arm, causing the blonde to almost immediately pass out. A sinister grin appeared across Dr. Kim’s lips as he stood up, locked the door, and removed his coat. 

When Sungmin awoke, his torso and back hurt and he was alone in his room once more. Lightly touching his own skin, Sungmin could feel teeth imprints on his stomach, chest, and even on his legs, and began sobbing, assuming that Dr. Kim had hurt him. “Donghae, why did you put me here? Why did you allow them to do this to me?” Sungmin asked out loud, blaming his cousin for his current predicament. “Kyuhyun, help me, please help me.” Sungmin let out another shuddered cry as he closed his eyes and curled up on his bed in the darkness of his room.


	10. Chapter 10

          _*Two days later*_

Donghae lie asleep in the officer rec room inside the precinct. Sweat layered his body, his heart pounded hard against his chest, and his breathing was shaky as Donghae flailed around on the small bed; in his mind, Donghae’s dreams were conjuring up images of Hyukjae being held hostage by Kyuhyun, Kyuhyun slitting Hyukjae’s throat while Donghae watched and unable move, and himself and the other E.L.F. officers being tortured for information by Kyuhyun and Yesung. “No, don’t . . . don’t touch . . . him, no,” Donghae muttered, rapidly turning his head from left to right.

          “Donghae, Donghae.” The brunette detective was suddenly yanked out of his horrific nightmare and tried regaining his breath as his heart raced. Sitting up, Donghae saw Changmin standing in the doorway of the rec room. “You okay man?” Changmin asked.

          “Yeah,” Donghae lied, rubbing his eyes. “Just had a bad dream is all.”

          “Well, the captain wanted me to tell you that shift starts in thirty minutes,” Changmin informed.

          “Thanks,” Donghae responded as he climbed out of the bed.

          “How’s it been, having to sleep at the precinct over the past couple of days?” Changmin wondered.

          “Not bad, but not great either,” Donghae admitted, starting to get ready for his shift. “But at least Hyukjae is safe, Sungmin is safe, and momentarily, I’m safe too.”

          “How’s your abdomen feeling?” Changmin inquired, looking at his friend’s bandaged body.

          “Much better, it’s getting easier to sleep on my stomach again and it doesn’t hurt as much when I move,” Donghae replied.

          “That’s good to hear,” Changmin encouraged. “Well I’ll leave and let you finish getting ready.”

          “Alright, I’ll be down in a minute,” Donghae said as he began buttoning up his shirt. After Changmin had left the room, Donghae sat down on his bed, and grabbed his phone, seeing that he had a missed call from his mom. As he called her back, Donghae hoped and prayed that Kyuhyun hadn’t somehow found out where Hyukjae was and had gone to his parents’ house.

          “Hello,” Mrs. Lee answered.

          “Hi mom, did you call me?” Donghae asked.

          “Yeah, I didn’t know if you were sleeping or working, but I just wanted to let you know that Hyukjae had a long night last night. He woke up a couple of times and got scared because you weren’t there, but I gave him some water and talked to him, and managed to coax him back to sleep,” Mrs. Lee explained. “He does want to talk to you though, do you have a minute?”

          “Of course,” Donghae confirmed.

          The brunette detective heard his mom call for Hyukjae and tell him that Donghae was on the phone. “Donghae?” Hyukjae muttered into the phone.

          “Hey baby, how are you?” Donghae sweetly asked.

          “Donghae I’m sorry, I had a bad night and kept your mom up so late; I didn’t mean to,” Hyukjae apologized.

          “It’s okay Hyukjae, my mom’s not mad at you, she understands you’re hurting,” Donghae promised. “Do you feel any better?”

          “Yes, your mom is so nice, she stayed with me until I went back to sleep; she’s a wonderful person,” Hyukjae replied.

          “Yes she is,” Donghae agreed with a smile. “I’ve gotta go to work now, we’re getting closer to finding Kyuhyun and Yesung, so hopefully I’ll see you really soon.”

          “Okay,” Hyukjae said as he smiled too.

          “I love you Hyukjae,” Donghae stated.

          “I love you too Donghae, please stay safe,” Hyukjae responded.

          “I will, don’t worry,” Donghae promised before hanging up.

          Looking at the clock, the brunette detective saw he still had a few extra minutes left before his shift started. Scrolling through his phone again, Donghae dialed another number and heard a woman say “Incheon Mental Institution, how may I help you?”

          “Yes, this is Detective Lee Donghae, can I please speak to Dr. Kim Kibum?” Donghae requested.

          “One moment detective,” the woman replied before Donghae was placed on hold.

          A few seconds later, Donghae listened to Dr. Kim say “Hello Detective Lee, what can I do for you?”

          “Hi Dr. Kim, I was just wanting to check in on Sungmin and see how he’s doing,” Donghae said.

          “Well he’s doing fine, his therapy is producing shocking results; Sungmin is starting to understand his problem a lot sooner than we originally expected,” Dr. Kim responded.

          “That’s good to hear, so he’s getting better?” Donghae innocently inquired.

          “Little by little yes, he has really opened up to me, and I’ve tried to be there for him as much as a doctor can be for a patient,” Dr. Kim informed with subtle vindictiveness in his voice.

          “Is there any way I can talk to him?” Donghae wondered. “I haven’t talked to him since he’s been there.”

          “One second detective,” Kibum requested, putting him on hold again. Standing up, Kibum left his office and walked down the hallway to the elevator. After riding to the appropriate floor, Kibum stepped off and headed down the hall towards Sungmin’s room. Knocking softly, Kibum entered the small, dark room and saw Sungmin curled up on his bed against the wall. “Sungmin,” Kibum said as he slowly walked over to the timid blonde. “Your cousin is on the phone, he wants to talk to you.”

          Sungmin didn’t move from his spot, he just continued staring at the wall as he responded “I don’t wanna talk to him.”

          “Are you sure?” Dr. Kim checked.

          “I have nothing to say to him,” Sungmin stoically muttered.

          “Alright,” Kibum replied, a wicked smile appearing across his lips as he turned and left the room. Reentering his office, Kibum picked the phone back up and in a fake, sympathetic tone informed “I’m sorry Detective Lee, but Sungmin is declining to speak to you at this time.”

          “What?” Donghae asked, shocked at what he just heard. “Why?”

          “He didn’t say why, but don’t worry, I’ll figure it out during his next therapy session,” Kibum responded.

          “Okay, well thank you Dr. Kim, please tell my cousin that I love him and miss him and I’ll try and call back again in a few days,” Donghae requested.

          “Of course Detective Lee, feel free to call anytime,” Kibum said before hanging up.

          Donghae sighed as he pocketed his phone and headed into the main room of the precinct to join his fellow officers. “Everything okay?” Siwon asked, noticing Donghae’s expression.

          “I just tried to call and check on Sungmin, and he doesn’t want to talk to me,” Donghae informed.  

          “What?” Siwon confusedly inquired.

          “Why would he not wanna talk to you?” Seunghyun added.

          “I don’t know, you guys think he’s still mad at me for sending him to the hospital?” Donghae wondered.

          “I mean he might still be a little upset, but he’s been there for nearly a month, you’d think he’d be adjusted by now,” Changmin figured.

          “Well I’ll try and call him again later, maybe he’ll wanna talk then,” Donghae decided.

          Just then, Yoona approached the four. “Hey guys, so I think I’ve finally made a breakthrough in terms of Kyuhyun and Yesung’s location,” she exclaimed.

          The E.L.F. perked up as Siwon asked “What’d you find?”

          So I went back over the last two videos that they sent us, and even though the location was scrambled and bounced around off hundreds of signal towers, I was able to configure that a majority of those towers were in the South Kyong-sang region, which greatly narrows down the search vicinity,” Yoona explained.

          “South Kyong-sang region?” Donghae repeated. “That’s like two hours away from Gangnam.”

          “But it would make sense for them to have a place far from here,” Changmin reminded.

          “Were you able to figure out which city?” Seunghyun wondered, looking at Yoona.

          “Not yet, now I’ve got to look at each tower in the region and see how many times the signal bounces off of each one, hopefully I can get results for you by the end of the day or tomorrow at the latest,” Yoona admitted.

          “E.L.F., I need you to come in here for a minute,” Kangin called from his office.

          The four stood up and headed towards Kangin’s office, before Yoona gently grabbed Seunghyun’s arm and stopped him. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

          The Korean girl averted her gaze from Seunghyun’s before clearing her throat and slowly replying “Um, I never got a chance to say this, but the other day, after I heard that there were two cop cars that blew up while you guys were on your way to Donghae’s, I . . .” Yoona paused a moment, took a quick breath, and crossed her arms before finishing “Look, I know we’ve been broken up for a while, but deep down I was scared that something had happened to you. I’m glad you’re okay though, just please don’t make me worry like that again.”

          Seunghyun smiled at Yoona, reaching out to touch her arm. “You got it,” he promised.

          As he turned to head to Kangin’s office a second time, Yoona called “I was also hoping, maybe we could go out after work and get a drink, strictly as friends though.”

          Seunghyun paused and turned back to Yoona, smirking as he agreed “Sounds good to me.” After watching Seunghyun walk into Kangin’s office, Yoona returned to her own desk and smiled as a blush developed across her cheeks.

          “What’s going on captain?” Seunghyun wondered as he shut the door.

          “I just got off the phone with the Commissioner and he has ordered that you four be taken off the case because of how highly targeted you’ve become. He knows of what Kyuhyun and Yesung have done, he knows that several officers have died over the past few weeks, and the Commissioner wants the Feds taking control now,” Kangin informed.

          “Are you fucking serious? After the blood, sweat, and tears we poured into this case, after everything, they expect us to just stop?” Siwon questioned.

          “This is bullshit, what are the Feds gonna do that we haven’t already tried?” Changmin added.

          “I know you guys are frustrated and you’ve been working diligently, but this isn’t my call. By the end of business today, you four have to hand in everything related to this case,” Kangin said apologetically.

          “Wait, you said we have til the end of today, so if we can find their location before the end of shift, we can stay on the case right?” Donghae asked.

          “If you can find a solid connection or evidence to Kyuhyun and Yesung’s location, then I will do everything in my ability to make sure you guys see it through, but you have nine hours,” Kangin replied.

          “Yoona said that she managed to figure out the region of their location, but couldn’t determine an exact city as of right now,” Seunghyun informed. “Apparently, their location is in the South Kyong-sang region.”

          “Alright, I want you four helping her today to see if you can do anything to figure out where they are in that region. I’ll try and help as well; I’ll call some of the regional precinct captains and see if they have ever seen Kyuhyun and Yesung around the area,” Kangin instructed.

          “Yes sir,” the four agreed before exiting the office.

          After a whole shift of E.L.F. helping Yoona sort through the hundreds of potential locations where Kyuhyun and Yesung could be, the group deciphered that the criminals had filmed their videos in Busan, as that was the city where the signals had bounced off the towers the most. Once they had presented their evidence to their captain, Kangin said “Alright, I think we have enough to keep the Feds off the case, but we need to head down to Busan and go from there. I’ll call the precinct captain there, see if they can pull up the road cameras and find out if they managed to capture Kyuhyun and Yesung driving; if so, we’ll be able to find their exact location. I know you guys have been working long and hard on this case, but hopefully it’s almost over. Take an hour break to rest and rejuvenate, and meet back here in an hour, then we’ll head down to Busan.”

          “Anyone wanna go to that new bar that opened up over on Gajima Road and get a drink before we have to leave?” Changmin wondered as they all grabbed their jackets off the back of their chairs.

          “Gonna have to take a pass on that,” Seunghyun declined. “Yoona and I are going out.”

          Changmin looked at his partner. “You guys are together again?” he asked.

          Seunghyun smirked, explaining “Well not officially, but she did want to have drinks and talk and so I’m hoping that’ll lead to something again.”

          “What about you Donghae?” Changmin inquired, looking at the other brunette detective.

          “Sure I’ll go,” Donghae agreed.

          “Siwon?” Changmin offered as he looked over.

          “Yeah why not, you guys go on ahead and get us a spot, I gotta use the restroom and make a couple of phone calls and then I’ll be there, shouldn’t be more than ten minutes,” Siwon informed before heading in the direction of the restrooms.

          Donghae, Changmin, Seunghyun, and Yoona walked down the steps of the precinct before Changmin and Donghae headed over to Changmin’s vehicle, and Seunghyun and Yoona strode over to Seunghyun’s car. “You gonna call Hyukjae and tell him that we’re heading to Busan?” Changmin wondered when he and Donghae reached the bar and sat down at a table.

          “You think I should? I don’t want him to worry, but I did tell him I’d keep him updated on everything,” Donghae remarked.

          “Maybe just tell him we got a new lead, but leave out the part about us having to go to Busan,” Changmin suggested. “Should we go ahead and order drinks, or wait for Siwon to get here?”

          “I can call and ask what he wants, that way we can go ahead and get it ordered,” Donghae said before dialing Siwon’s number.

          “Yeah go ahead and just get me whatever you guys are having,” Siwon requested as he walked down the steps of the precinct. “Alright, well I just left so I’ll be there soon.” After hanging up, Siwon climbed into his vehicle and headed towards the bar to join Changmin and Donghae.

          As he drove down the road, Siwon approached a red light, but when he went to tap on the brakes, the raven haired detective discovered in horror that his brakes weren’t working. “What the hell,” he muttered to himself, pushing down on the brake pedal as hard as he could, but to no avail. In a desperate attempt to not crash into any oncoming cars, Siwon pulled the emergency brake lever, hoping that would resolve the problem. Siwon’s heart pounded as the emergency brake screeched loudly, causing the car to lock up and slow down, but didn’t manage to stop the vehicle before it crossed into the intersection. Before Siwon could move to get out of the car, another car rammed into the passenger side of Siwon’s car, pushing the police vehicle several feet, causing Siwon to inadvertently slam his head into the glass window. With his head throbbing and warm blood trickling down the side of his head, Siwon groaned as he reached over and carefully picked up his radio from the glass covered passenger seat. He muttered “10-50, 10-50, this is Detective Choi Siwon, I’m at the intersection of Seven and Fifteen; I need a 10-52 now, officer and possible civilians injured.”

          Inside the bar, Changmin and Donghae looked at one another with wide eyes as they listened to Siwon’s request for help come through the radio. “C’mon, we gotta go see if we can help,” Donghae said as he and Changmin stood up. Pushing the button on his radio, Donghae replied “10-4 Siwon, Changmin and I are on our way.”

          “Seunghyun, are you on your way to the location?” Changmin radioed out. When his partner didn’t respond, Changmin tried again, but got no response. “Damn, he must’ve left his radio in the car,” he figured.

          “We could try his phone,” Donghae suggested as they climbed into Changmin’s car.

          “Let’s see how severe it is first and if need be we’ll call him,” Changmin responded. “No need in breaking up his and Yoona’s date if we can help it.”

          Once Donghae and Changmin reached the scene of the accident, they saw two ambulances were already there, as well as other officers from the precinct. In one ambulance a civilian, more than likely the driver of the other car, was being treated for minor injuries, and Siwon was being loaded into the second ambulance. Hurrying over to the ambulance, Changmin and Donghae watched as an EMT started cleaning the blood off the side of Siwon’s head as Donghae asked “What the hell happened?”

          Still in slight shock from the impact of the crash, Siwon only managed to say “Brakes, brakes didn’t work.”

          Before they could get anything else out of their friend, an EMT asked Donghae and Changmin to step out of the ambulance, telling them they could talk to Siwon after he got examined at the hospital. After watching the ambulances drive away, Changmin and Donghae looked at one another. “How the hell did his brakes give out? We just had vehicle inspections a couple of weeks ago,” Changmin reminded.

          “Kyuhyun and Yesung must’ve tampered with them,” Donghae guessed.

          “You think they actually snuck into the police parking lot? Even with it guarded?” Changmin asked.

          “After everything we’ve seen them do, you’re honestly still skeptical?” Donghae wondered. “These guys are crazy enough to it.”

          “C’mon, let’s get to the hospital, by the time we get there, Siwon should be cleared to talk,” Changmin suggested.

          Meanwhile, at a small bar several blocks away, Seunghyun and Yoona sat at a table drinking together. “So tell me how you’ve been lately,” Seunghyun asked.

          “Not bad, just mostly focusing on the job, kinda gave up on a social life,” Yoona informed.

          “So nothing’s really changed,” Seunghyun joked, earning a smile from the Korean girl.

          “I know, I know, I’m pathetic,” Yoona laughed.

          “How do you like the 18th Precinct? The IT people treating you well?” Seunghyun inquired.

          “Oh yeah I love it, everyone’s been great,” Yoona confirmed.

          “So can I ask you something kinda personal?” Seunghyun wondered.

          “Sure,” Yoona agreed as she took a sip of her drink.

          “Is it safe to assume that you haven’t seen anyone since we split up?” Seunghyun slowly asked.

          Yoona set her drink down and pushed some loose strands behind her ear as she bit her lip and nodded. “Isn’t that something though, I tried to move on, but every guy who asked me out after you was just, I don’t know, they didn’t have what you did,” she explained. “Sometimes I would think if I made the right decision by breaking up with you, if maybe, I let things between us end too soon.”

          Seunghyun reached forward and lightly put his hand on top of Yoona’s. “I think you made the right call,” he confessed.

          Yoona’s eyes widened slightly. “What do you mean?” she asked.

          “When we broke up, you told me one of the reasons was because I was immature and didn’t seem to know when to act like an adult at times. It took me a while to realize that you were right and that there were times that my behavior was inappropriate, and I began to think about instances or events where we’d been out and I said something that embarrassed you. I understood then, I say things in front of the guys that probably aren’t right to say in front of you and I apologize for doing that to you in the past. I also thought a lot about the other reason why we broke up,” Seunghyun informed.

          Yoona took a breath before saying “Seunghyun, that wasn’t your fault.”

          “Well whose fault was it then?” Seunghyun asked, raising his voice slightly.

          “It was no one’s, it just happened,” Yoona promised, squeezing Seunghyun’s hand to calm him down.

          The raven haired detective was quiet for a minute as he shook his head before muttering “You would’ve made the best mom.”

          Yoona smiled as tears threatened to well in her eyes. “And you would’ve made an awesome dad,” she whispered. “But I guess a higher power didn’t think we were ready.”

          “Then why would it toy with us for four months and make us think the best thing in the world was happening to us, that we were going to experience what it was like to care for something we made, and then suddenly just take that away?” Seunghyun demanded.

          “We’re never gonna know, but it happened and we have to move on, c’mon let’s not talk about it, let’s just –” Yoona suggested.

          “Let’s try again,” Seunghyun bluntly said.

          Yoona paused, mouth dropped slightly open. “What?” she inquired.

           “I think we should try again, on all of it; our relationship, starting a family, everything we originally wanted,” Seunghyun responded. “What do you think?”

          “Seunghyun, we’re both in the peak of our careers, we can’t just –” Yoona started.

          “Okay well can we at least start with us just going out to eat or for drinks after work again? We’ll take it slow like we did when we first got together, I don’t want you to feel rushed,” Seunghyun suggested. “What do you say?”

          Yoona was quiet for a minute before smiling and nodding. “Okay, let’s try again,” she agreed.

          Grinning, Seunghyun leaned forward and lightly kissed Yoona’s lips. Before they said anything else to one another, Seunghyun felt his phone vibrate against his pocket. Pulling it out, the raven haired detective found a new text from Donghae. “Oh boy,” he sighed.

          “What happened?” Yoona wondered.

          “Donghae texted and said that Siwon is in the ER with minor injuries due to an accident. He’s gonna be fine, but he needs me to go to the precinct and get his medical insurance card out of his locker,” Seunghyun informed.

          “You want me to go with you?” Yoona offered as Seunghyun stood up.

          “No that’s alright, it shouldn’t take but five minutes; I’m just gonna go in, take a pic of the card, and send it to Donghae so they can have the info. You stay and order us another round, I’ll be right back,” Seunghyun promised before placing another quick kiss on Yoona’s lips.

          Inside the Gangnam Hospital, Siwon was sitting up on the edge of one of the beds as a doctor finished wrapping gauze around his right wrist. “You were lucky to have not sustained any real serious injuries Mr. Choi,” the doctor commented.

          “Will I have to take off any time from work?” Siwon nervously asked.

          “That would be up to your discretion, but as long as you don’t go jumping off buildings or engage in hand-to-hand combat, you should be okay to return to work. I’ll prescribe you some antibiotics to help with the pain,” the doctor recommended.

          “But I’m not really hurting,” Siwon informed.

          “Not yet, but your body is still running off of adrenaline, this time tomorrow, you’ll definitely be wanting some. I’ll be back in a moment,” the doctor replied before leaving the room.

          “You guys know it was those two fucking psychopaths that did this,” Siwon said, looking over at Donghae and Changmin.

          “I know, that’s what we were speculating,” Donghae agreed.

          Just then there was a knock on the door as Kangin walked in. “Captain, what are you doing here?” Changmin wondered.

          “Donghae texted me and said that Siwon was in the hospital so I hurried over,” Kangin stated.

          “I didn’t text you though,” Donghae said in a confused tone.

          “What?” Kangin inquired.

          “I haven’t been on the phone since we left the bar,” Donghae responded. Just then, Donghae’s phone rang, causing the brunette detective to jump. Quickly fishing the phone out of his pocket, Donghae saw it was Seunghyun and answered “Hello?”

          “Hey Donghae, I’m here at Siwon’s locker, but I can’t find his insurance card anywhere; is he sure it’s in here?” Seunghyun wondered as he rooted around his friend’s locker some more.

          “What are you talking about?” Donghae inquired.

          “You texted me and said that Siwon was in an accident and that you needed me to get his insurance card out of his locker,” Seunghyun reminded.

          “No, I never texted –” Donghae started before pausing, realizing what was going on; Kyuhyun and Yesung had found their next target. “Seunghyun are you alone?”

          “At the moment yes,” he confirmed as he was the only one in the locker room.

          “You need to get out of there, I never texted you, it’s gotta be Kyuhyun and Yesung somehow,” Donghae said urgently. When the call suddenly dropped, Donghae looked at the other E.L.F. members and informed “Seunghyun’s in danger, we have to go now.”

          “Donghae, hello? Donghae?” Seunghyun asked, only hearing a dial tone. Seunghyun then heard something shift from a far corner of the locker room. The raven haired detective pocketed his phone, rapidly turned around, and pulled out his gun. “C’mon you fuckers, I’ve been waiting for a chance to kill you two,” he challenged, slowly making his way around the lockers. The dimly lit, silent room didn’t intimidate Seunghyun as he tried to steady his breathing and find Kyuhyun and Yesung. As he turned down a new aisle of lockers, Seunghyun saw Yesung standing at the end, holding an electric baton in his clenched fist. “Got you, you son of a –” Seunghyun started before stopping as he felt something be jabbed into the side of his neck.

          Quickly turning, Seunghyun saw Kyuhyun as the dark brunette Korean yanked a syringe out of the detective’s neck. “So you’re the one who put the cops on our trail,” Kyuhyun said as Seunghyun began to feel the effects of the drug and fell to his knees. “If it hadn’t been for you, I would still be with Minnie; if it hadn’t been for you, we wouldn’t have had to burn down our home, and watch as you desperately chase our ashes, clinging to the hope that you would be able to stop us.” Seunghyun tried to grab his gun, but fell onto his stomach. “Don’t worry detective, your fun is about to begin,” Kyuhyun informed as he took Yesung’s electric baton and roughly struck Seunghyun across the face with it, knocking the raven haired cop unconscious.


	11. Chapter 11

          Tires screeched loudly as Donghae, Siwon, Changmin, and Kangin arrived back at the precinct. As Donghae, Siwon, and Changmin searched for clues around the locker room, Kangin shouted at the other officers, “Does someone want to explain to me how the fuck an officer got kidnapped in our own goddamn precinct?!”

          The remaining cops were silent, as the lowered their heads in embarrassment. One of them spoke up, “We looked at the cameras, and it seems they snuck in through the air ducts and once they captured Detective Choi, the two used his I.D. badge to exit out the back door where they had a vehicle waiting.”

          “Our precinct has been under attack for the past month and it didn’t occur to any of you to be on constant alert?” Kangin questioned. After taking a deep breath and calming down slightly, Kangin muttered “Did they take anything else besides Seunghyun?”

          “Not that we know of at this time, but we’ll keep looking at the camera footage and thoroughly go through the weapons depot,” one of the officers promised, as the precinct scrambled to find something to present to their captain.

          In the locker room, E.L.F. looked around for any clues as to what happened to their missing officer friend, so far only finding fresh blood splatter on the concrete floor, as well as some on the lockers. Searching, Donghae found the discarded syringe that Kyuhyun had used to drug Seunghyun with, under one of the benches. “Guys look at this,” Donghae called to Siwon and Changmin. Snapping on a white latex glove, Donghae carefully picked up the syringe.

          “You think they used this to drug Seunghyun?” Changmin wondered.

          “It’s a safe bet,” Donghae said.

          “Where’d they find a drug that powerful without being spotted?” Siwon inquired. Donghae thought for a minute and widened his eyes as he began walking out of the locker room. “Donghae?” Siwon and Changmin followed the brunette detective to the medical examiner’s office downstairs.

          “Shindong,” Donghae called as the three hurried inside.

          “Hey Donghae, what is it?” Shindong questioned.

          “Can you tell me what kind of medicine was in this syringe?” Donghae requested.

          “Yeah, it looks fresh enough to have remnants of the drug left, give me a couple of minutes,” Shindong replied before turning to begin his tests.

          A few minutes later, Shindong grabbed the results out of a printer and announced “Alright, the drug that was used in this particular syringe was Luminal.”

          Donghae’s mouth dropped slightly as he muttered “Son of a bitch.”

          He ran out of the medical examiner’s office, leaving Siwon and Changmin behind. “What the hell is Luminal used for?” Siwon asked.

          “It’s a phenobarbital used mostly to help treat people with epilepsy and insomnia, as well as night terrors. However, more powerful doses are used for prisoner executions,” Shindong explained.

          “Wait a minute, night terrors?” Changmin asked, realizing why Donghae had responded the way he did. “Donghae always talks about Hyukjae suffering from night terrors.”

          Changmin and Siwon rushed back up to the locker room and found Donghae standing frozen in front of the lockers. “He stole my boyfriend’s medication and used it to kidnap our friend,” Donghae muttered before screaming as he punched the locker repeatedly. The brunette detective then fell to the floor as he took a few deep breaths. “Kyuhyun was right, everything that’s happened, all these deaths, all this tragedy, it’s my fault,” Donghae accepted.

          “No it’s not,” Changmin denied as he knelt down next to Donghae. “You have done nothing wrong here Donghae, those two are just psychopaths who don’t give a damn about the law or anyone.”

          “Yeah, no one thinks you’re to blame for any of this,” Siwon added as he knelt down as well.

          “I don’t know how much longer I can keep doing this,” Donghae said, running a hand through his own hair.  

          “We’re not gonna stop until we catch them and save Seunghyun, we’re not gonna let them win again,” Changmin promised.

          “They’ve already taken enough from us, let’s not give them the satisfactory of thinking they have us beat,” Siwon added.

          Donghae thought about what his friends said, he thought about Sungmin, about Hyukjae, about everyone who had been affected by Kyuhyun and Yesung’s detrimental actions; Donghae knew what ultimately had to be done. Nodding slowly, the brunette agreed “You’re both absolutely right, let’s go.” All three stood up before rushing out of the locker room.

          “Did you guys find anything?” Kangin asked as he saw the officers enter the main area of the precinct.

          “We found a syringe that Kyuhyun and Yesung more than likely used to drug Seunghyun with, but besides that and some blood, there’s nothing else, no cell phone, no gun,” Siwon informed.

          “He must still have it on him,” Kangin figured. “Where’s Yoona, we can get her to track his phone; hopefully that’ll lead us right to Kyuhyun and Yesung’s location.”

          “Oh my god, how are we gonna tell Yoona about what’s happened?” Donghae wondered.

          “We need to call her and get her back here, but once we do, I’ll take her aside and explain what’s going on. She’s known me longer, so maybe I can keep her calm,” Changmin suggested.

          “Well hurry, every minute we waste here is another minute Seunghyun gets closer to death,” Kangin reminded.

          A few minutes later, Yoona walked into the precinct and up to E.L.F., asking “What’s going on? Where’s Seunghyun at?” Siwon and Donghae remained quiet as Changmin gently took her by the arm and coaxed her into one of the interrogation rooms. “Changmin what’s going on?”

          “There’s no easy way to say this, so you should probably sit down first,” Changmin slowly recommended.

          “For God’s sake Changmin, what is it?” Yoona demanded, obviously becoming irritated that no one would tell her what was going on.

          “Seunghyun’s been kidnapped by Kyuhyun and Yesung, and we’re guessing that he is going to be their next victim,” Changmin informed. “They lured him to the precinct locker room under the guise that Donghae needed something, but when he got here, they were waiting for him; they knocked him out and took him.”

          Yoona stood frozen for a moment before stumbling back into a chair, collapsing into it before shaking her head. “No, that’s not possible, I was just with him and he was fine, he was just –” she said before lowering her head as sobs emitted from her body. Changmin immediately knelt down and slid his arms around Yoona, in an attempt to comfort her. “I should’ve come back with him, I could’ve helped him; I could’ve done something.”

          “Yoona this is not your fault, okay? If you had come back with him, they would’ve either killed you or taken you hostage as well; these two are evil and wouldn’t have cared,” Changmin replied. “The best thing we can do for Seunghyun now is to find him as quickly as possible, and we need you to help us.”

          Nodding, Yoona wiped her eyes and agreed “I’ll do whatever you guys need.” Getting up and walking out of the interrogation room with Changmin, Yoona cleared her throat and ask Siwon and Donghae, “What do I need to do?”

          “We need you to track Seunghyun’s phone and see if you can get a location on him,” Donghae requested.

          Sitting down at her computer, Yoona began to rapidly type away on her keyboard, eyes fixated on the screen, before announcing “Alright I got a position on where his phone is, and it is currently travelling down the main southeast highway.”

          “They’re heading to Busan, to their little torture chamber, we need to go now,” Siwon instructed as he, Donghae, and Changmin grabbed their jackets.

          “I’ll go let the captain know, he’ll want to come too,” Donghae said, running towards Kangin’s office.

          “I’m coming as well,” Yoona stated as she stood up.

          “Yoona I don’t know if that’s such a good –” Changmin started before seeing the look at Yoona was shooting him.

          “I’m not going to stay behind and wait while Seunghyun is out there being held hostage by these animals. I can bring my laptop and access the same information on that as I would if I was stuck here,” she said.

          “Do you have any field experience though?” Siwon wondered.

          “Well no, but I do go to the shooting range twice a month to keep my accuracy in check just in case,” Yoona replied.

          “She’s been trained to take care of herself if put in a life or death situation, as you all have,” Kangin reminded as he and Donghae joined them. “Yoona understands the risks and since she has an emotional attachment, I don’t see anything wrong with her not joining us this one time; let’s go.” Kangin led Yoona and the remaining three E.L.F. detectives out to one of the black SUV police cars, as they climbed in and sped off in the direction of Busan.

          Seunghyun groaned as he opened his eyes and found that his hands were bound behind his back with duct tape, as well as his mouth covered with a strip of some. Looking around, Seunghyun could barely make out where he was. Trying to sit up, Seunghyun banged his head against something hard and metal before collapsing back down with a groan. Curious, Seunghyun lifted one of his legs slowly until his foot touched the same metal surface that his head did and realized he had to have been in the trunk of a car. As he began to feel around for something to cut the tape with, Seunghyun noticed that the car was slowing down. The detective heard two doors slam shut before hearing Yesung ask “You want me to fill up the gas can while we’re here?”

          “No don’t bother,” Kyuhyun replied. “I think after we take care of this one, we’ll deliver the remains back to the precinct.” Seunghyun’s heart began pounding as he heard Kyuhyun add “Speaking of which, probably should check on him.” Seunghyun watched as the trunk lid swung up and put him face to face with Kyuhyun again. Smirking, Kyuhyun began to taunt “Well, well, Yesung, it looks like Sleeping Beauty decided to join us. Don’t worry, you won’t be here much longer, we’re almost there, then the real fun will begin.” Hearing a vibration coming from the trunk, Kyuhyun felt around near Seunghyun and discovered the officer’s phone that had fallen out of his pocket. Looking at the screen, Kyuhyun commented “Seems your team is looking for you; one of them is extremely worried about you, so worried in fact that she’s called you ten times.” Seunghyun’s eyes widened, knowing Kyuhyun was talking about Yoona. “Don’t worry detective, I’m not going to touch her, you’re more valuable to us than she is. I will say that she is very pretty though, which is good; it’ll make it easier for her to move on and find someone new. But for now, why don’t we shake things up a bit; let’s see just how smart your team really is.” After saying this, Kyuhyun dropped Seunghyun’s phone on the ground before stomping on it several times with his foot.

          “Kyuhyun, we’re good to go,” Yesung informed as he closed the gas cap on the vehicle.

          “Alright,” Kyuhyun acknowledged before turning back to Seunghyun. “I’d use the last leg of this car ride to try and relax and enjoy life while you still have it detective.” Seunghyun listened to the dark brunette Korean laugh maliciously under his breath as he slammed the trunk door back down, swallowing up Seunghyun in darkness once more.

          “Guys, Seunghyun’s phone has stopped moving,” Yoona informed as the group continued at rapid speed down the highway.

          “Where at?” Kangin wondered.

          Quickly typing on her laptop, Yoona revealed “I got his phone’s location pinged to a gas station in Seong-ju.”

          “They’re already more than halfway there, once they go through Daegu it’s a straight shot to Busan,” Kangin stated.

          “Can we call the Daegu precinct and see if they can offer any assistance?” Donghae asked. “Maybe they could set up some road blocks.”

          “They’ve got their plates full with dozens of recent kidnappings, so I don’t know how many reinforcements they can spare; Busan police are dealing with the same issue, however their precinct is much larger and their captain is allowing us to use some of their officers to aid us when we get there,” Kangin explained. “Yoona, find out the location of the gas station where Seunghyun’s phone stopped, I want to make sure only his phone was left at that station.”

          “Yes sir,” Yoona agreed as she began typing again. “We’re about twenty five minutes away from it.” Hearing this, Kangin pushed down on the gas pedal harder, increasing their speed even more.

          Meanwhile, Seunghyun was trying to feel around in the darkness to see if he could find anything that could be used to help him free himself. He tried inching his way towards the back of trunk to see if anything could’ve rolled there. Seunghyun let out a muffled gasp as he touched something sharp; carefully feeling the item, he guessed that it was the broken neck to a glass bottle. His assumption became a lot more believable when he was able to wrap his fingers around the slender neck and take hold of the glass. Quickly, but carefully, Seunghyun began sawing the sharp end against the tape on his wrists, hoping the glass was strong enough to cut through. Seunghyun kept the continuous sawing motion for what felt like hours, only to pause when he felt the car begin to slow down. Fearing that they probably had reached their destination, Seunghyun rapidly began slicing against his restraints, feeling the glass cut into his skin a few times. Finally, a silver lining seemed to shine on Seunghyun as his wrists separated, letting the detective know he’d successfully cut through his bondage. Still gripping the broken bottle in his hand, Seunghyun moved his arms and ripped the tape off his mouth, taking in a couple of deep breaths. He readied his hand as he heard Kyuhyun and Yesung’s footsteps approach the trunk of the car. Once the trunk lid swung open again, Seunghyun wasted no time and swiped his hand at Kyuhyun, creating a huge gash on his cheek, causing the dark brunette Korean to scream and take a step back. When Yesung tried to take the bottle from him, Seunghyun tried to stab Yesung’s hand, only for Yesung to grab the bottle by the shards, cutting his hand deeply, yanking it out of Seunghyun’s reach. Kyuhyun turned back to Seunghyun, blood running down his face from the wound, and pulled out Seunghyun’s police gun. “I’ve had about enough of you,” he growled, aiming the gun at the officer. “I tried to be as civilized about this as I could, but you want to act like some kind of animal, fine then.” Yesung then thrust the end of an electric baton against Seunghyun’s chest, effectively knocking out the detective once more. “Fuck, this is the first one to really fight back,” Kyuhyun said as he smeared away some of the blood on his cheek.

          “What’d you expect?” Yesung asked as he casually picked glass out of the wound in his hand. “He is one of the top detectives.”

          “Not for long he won’t be; c’mon let’s get him inside,” Kyuhyun instructed.

          Pulling up to the gas station where Seunghyun’s phone had been tracked to, the five officers stepped out of their vehicle before Kangin stated “Donghae, you and Siwon go inside and ask the clerk if they recognize Kyuhyun and Yesung and see if they remember them at all; Changmin, Yoona, and I will look around out here.”

          Going inside, Siwon and Donghae went up to the counter and pulled up pictures of Kyuhyun and Yesung on their phones. “We’re Detectives Choi and Lee from the 18th Precinct in Gangnam and we were wondering if you remember seeing these two pass by here any time today,” Siwon asked as he showed the clerk the pictures.

          “Yeah, I remember them, they came in about an hour ago,” the clerk confirmed.

          “Did they seem suspicious to you at all?” Donghae wondered.

          “No not really, they seemed just like every other person that comes in here,” the clerk said. “I’m sorry, but did you say that one of you is Detective Lee?”

          “Yes, I am,” Donghae slowly acknowledged.

          The clerk then handed Donghae a note that he had pinned up on the board behind him. “One of them told me to give this to a Detective Lee when you showed up,” he informed.

          “Which one told you this?” Donghae asked.

          “That one,” the clerk replied, pointing to Kyuhyun’s picture.

          “Alright thank you,” Donghae said before he and Siwon walked outside.

          “We got something,” Siwon called to the others as they all gathered together.

          “What happened?” Kangin asked.

          “The clerk in there recognized Kyuhyun and Yesung and said that they were here about an hour ago, and that they left this note,” Donghae explained.

          “What’s it say?” Changmin inquired.

          Unfolding the note, Donghae saw only the words ‘ _Hope this will help ease your worry Detective Lee’_ written, and just below that, a line of numbers. “I don’t know what this part means,” Donghae said as his finger skimmed over the numbers.

          “I recognize that,” Yoona realized as she took the paper. “This is dark web code, I remember working a case about a hacker who used code like this. This number represents a password into a specific ‘room’ on the dark web.”

          Going back to their vehicle, Yoona and the others climbed inside and watched as she worked her magic, accessing the dark web before entering the specific code Kyuhyun and Yesung had given them. Once the last number of the code was input, a black screen appeared momentarily before revealing Kyuhyun to the group. The dark brunette Korean began sarcastically clapping as he said “Congratulations detectives, you actually figured it out. For this round, we are going to mix things up a bit; as you have probably also figured out, the videos we sent you in the past were mere recordings, but since we have a special guest with us, one of the precinct’s best detectives, it’s only proper that we stream this live for you, so you don’t miss a minute of the action.”

          Taking a step back, the detectives saw Seunghyun was tied to a chair, his hands bound to each armrest, and his feet tied to the front two legs of the chair. “Now detective, do you wanna tell me where my Minnie is?” Kyuhyun questioned.

          “Fuck you,” Seunghyun spat.

          “Not the answer I was hoping for I’m afraid,” Kyuhyun replied before taking a screwdriver and ramming it through Seunghyun’s right hand, forcing painful screams from the detective.

          Yoona covered her mouth to hide her screams as she shut her eyes tightly. “Get the computer away from her,” Changmin insisted, not wanting Yoona to see Seunghyun get tortured.

          Donghae grabbed the laptop and set it on his legs as Kyuhyun continued “Now let’s try this again, where are they?”

          Seunghyun took rapid, deep breaths to get his mind off the pain, growling out through gasps, “I’m not telling you a goddamn thing.”

          Kyuhyun walked out of sight of the camera, but the officers heard him say “You will tell me one way or another, even if I have to break every bone and organ in your fucking body.” The five felt their hearts stop when they heard the sound of something scraping across the floor. Kyuhyun reentered the camera range, revealing himself to be dragging an aluminum bat behind him. “I’ll ask you one more time, where are they?” When Seunghyun remained silent, Kyuhyun muttered “You brought this on yourself.” He raised the bat before swinging it down quickly, smashing it into Seunghyun’s left kneecap. The raven haired detective screamed out as Kyuhyun continued bashing the instrument against Seunghyun’s knee before moving to the other one, while E.L.F. watched in horror on the laptop screen. Finally pausing to take a breath, Kyuhyun approached the camera and said with an evil grin “We’ll take a five minute and then resume the party, stick around.” The screen then turned fuzzy with static.

          The five officers sat silent for a moment before Kangin climbed into the driver’s seat and started up the vehicle. “Let’s hurry and get to the Busan precinct and get some reinforcements and take these motherfuckers down once and for all,” he stated as they quickly tore out of the gas station parking lot.

          Changmin looked over at Yoona and saw tears slip down her worried face as she sat in her seat, silently staring out the window. Moving closer to her, Changmin gently touched her shoulder, causing Yoona to turn to him. “Can you promise me that everything will be okay?” Yoona whispered.

          Swallowing roughly, Changmin replied “At this point, I honestly don’t think I can.” Yoona closed her eyes and leaned her head against Changmin’s shoulder as she let out another shuttered cry, while Changmin rubbed her arm to try and comfort his distraught friend.

          “You know you could save yourself a lot of pain if you’d just tell me where they are,” Kyuhyun reminded Seunghyun as he circled the captured, injured detective. “Yesung, you ready to go?”

          “All set,” Yesung agreed before watching Kyuhyun turn the camera back on.

          “Guys they’re back online,” Donghae announced as he angled the laptop for Changmin, Yoona, and Siwon to see.

          “And we’re back folks,” Kyuhyun sarcastically exasperated, stepping back from the camera. “Let’s see if Yesung can get through to your friend.”

          The officers watched as Yesung walked in front of Seunghyun and questioned “Why won’t you tell us where they are? All we want to do is give them love and safety; are you doing this just so Donghae doesn’t think you’re betraying his friendship by telling us their location? Why would you willingly put your life in jeopardy just to save an officer you’ve worked with for only a few months?”

          “And how could you betray someone who you called your friend? You were someone Donghae seemed to really trust and you’re gonna let this son of a bitch get in your mind and tell you otherwise?” Seunghyun retorted before feeling his head be yanked back as Kyuhyun slid a pillowcase over his head and pulled it tightly. Seunghyun struggled against the restraints and began choking as Yesung poured water onto the pillowcase in an attempt to water board the detective.

          When the water ran out, Kyuhyun removed the pillowcase, as they listened to Seunghyun cough and gasp for breath. “Don’t try and confuse him,” Kyuhyun demanded. “Yesung knows what’s right and what’s not. You know, if only you hadn’t tried to interfere with our business, so much of this could’ve been avoided; we would’ve been off somewhere now with our lovers and you could’ve been off with your lady friend, and Detective Lee could be fucking his bitch right now, but no, you all had to do things the hard way.” Noticing Yesung gripping his head, Kyuhyun asked “What’s wrong with you?”

          Yesung gripped his head as it throbbed, uncovering another cloudy memory. This time, Yesung remembered back to when Kyuhyun had insulted Ryeowook after they had their fight. “ _Did you fuck your bitch yet . . . I can’t trust you around him anymore Kyuhyun._ ” Yesung remembered bits of dialogue that he and Kyuhyun had had, but still didn’t know what happened afterwards. Turning to Kyuhyun, Yesung regained his composure and casually replied “Nothing, I’m good.”

          “Well quit acting like that then,” Kyuhyun snapped. Yesung began to think that maybe what Ryeowook had told him really was all true, but he still didn’t want to believe that Kyuhyun would be that evil.

          “Did you guys see that?” Siwon asked. “Yesung had some kind of weird reaction to Kyuhyun calling Hyukjae a bitch.”

          “What if he’s starting to remember stuff? The doctors said that certain words can trigger a person into remembering things when they have amnesia,” Changmin reminded.

          “But is it enough to get him to turn on Kyuhyun?” Donghae wondered.

          The group watched Kyuhyun approach the camera once more and say “We’ll take a quick break and resume momentarily.” The screen once again cut to fuzzy static.

          Starting to feel a little bit of remorse for what they were doing to Seunghyun, Yesung thought of an idea that would hopefully make Kyuhyun stop the torture. “Check and see if he has his badge still on him,” Yesung requested.

          “What?” Kyuhyun asked.

          “I can use the information on his badge to access the firewall without disclosing our location, since it’ll be an authorized officer’s number, and find out where Minnie and Ryeowook are,” Yesung explained.

          Kyuhyun then began feeling around Seunghyun’s jacket a found his police I.D. badge. He tossed it over to Yesung and said “Hurry up, they’ve kept us waiting long enough.” As Yesung quickly accessed the information, Kyuhyun grabbed a scalpel off of the table and slowly walked over to Seunghyun. “Your wandering eyes started this domino effect, let’s tame one of them.”

          Meanwhile, the five officers finally made it to the Busan precinct and hurried inside. The precinct captain introduced the Gangnam officers to the five Busan officers he had selected to help them. “Have you guys got any idea on where their hideout might be?” Donghae asked the Busan cops.

          “Yes, I went through three months of road camera footage and tried to find drivers that fit your description, and luckily found this,” one of the Busan officers informed, sliding over a printed out screenshot of Kyuhyun and Yesung driving down the road. “After some more digging, I found that they had also purchased two separate properties; one was an abandoned warehouse, bought about a year ago, the other was a small secluded home, purchased only five months ago.” The officer slid over copies of the signed property forms to the Gangnam officers to look at. “The reason why they never showed up under Cho Kyuhyun or Kim Jong-woon was because the two used aliases to throw off any suspicion. The home was signed for by a Jeremy Kim, and the warehouse was signed by a Marcus Cho. They would’ve needed I.D.’s to make the purchases, so even though they had two different identities, they still had the same picture.” The officer slid over a final printout of Kyuhyun’s and Yesung’s real I.D.’s alongside their fake ones. “The only way someone would’ve caught this is if they had looked it up in a regional police precinct, and since they weren’t bought in Gangnam, there would’ve been no way for you guys to ever find it.”

          “They planned everything out so well,” Donghae admitted quietly as he looked over the documents.

          “Kyuhyun, there’s a problem,” Yesung informed.

          “What, could you not access the files?” Kyuhyun asked.

          “No I got in and found their locations, but there’s something you need to know about the place where your Minnie is,” Yesung said.

          Hearing that, Kyuhyun quickly hurried over to Yesung’s side. “What, what’s wrong?” he questioned.

          “Donghae had him admitted into the Incheon Mental Institution, where it is run by therapist Dr. Kim Kibum; but I felt like I recognized the name so I did some quick research and found that my suspicions were correct. He’s originally from the United States, where he practiced under the name Dr. Brian Kim. He fled to Korea after being fired from two hospitals in seven years, one in New York and one in Texas; reasons being that he allegedly would use unethical therapy methods such as ice water therapy and electroshock therapy on his patients and there was rumor that he sexually assaulted close to thirty patients. Because no patients ever came forward to testify or had disappeared, Dr. Kim was never convicted, although when the Incheon Mental Institution hired him, the head psychiatrist put him on a probation period until he could trust him, but after five months, the head psychiatrist turned up dead and since Dr. Kim was the only other experienced therapist, he was promoted. There have been no complaints from the institution, but the rumors still live on that he abuses his patients,” Yesung explained. Turning to Kyuhyun, Yesung could see his blood boiling and his eyes fill with rage. “Kyuhyun?”

          The dark brunette Korean clenched his fist tightly before growling “We’re going there, now.” Kyuhyun stormed over to where they had their guns stored and attached a silencer onto his before continuing “If that fucker so much as even looked at my Minnie, I’m going to rip his spine out.”

          “Why don’t you go get him and I’ll go get Ryeowook; I found where his witness protection placement is and I want to get him as soon as possible,” Yesung suggested.

          “Fine, but let’s hurry, it’s been too long, and you know those fucking cops will show up soon,” Kyuhyun replied.

          “Speaking of which, what should we do with him?” Yesung asked, looking over at Seunghyun, who was currently passed out.

          “We’ll leave a present for the detectives to find once they get here, explaining our absence,” Kyuhyun responded with a laugh. “Get the barbed wire, I want to make this look good.” After finishing off their torture of Seunghyun, Kyuhyun and Yesung headed to their vehicle and began their journey back to Incheon, hoping to be reunited at last with Sungmin and Ryeowook.


	12. Chapter 12

           “Where’s the location of the warehouse at?” Donghae asked as he and the other Gangnam officers stood up.

          “I’ll send you the address,” one of the Busan officers replied. “Do you guys want to split up and one group go to the house and another go to –”

          “No,” Donghae interrupted. “They’re not at the house yet, there’s no need for it yet; they’re at the warehouse, and we all need to go, because these guys are psychotic and resilient.”

          “Everyone put on bulletproof vests first, these two are assumed to be armed and dangerous and in possession of an officer’s weapon,” Kangin instructed.

          As they strapped on the Velcro vests, one of the Busan officers inquired “Just how bad are these guys anyway?”

          “They kidnapped and tortured about fifteen people, they killed thirteen of their victims; five of them were officers from our precinct,” Donghae informed.

          “Whoa,” the officer responded. “I’ve never dealt with a serial killer tag team before.”

          “How long have you been on the force?” Donghae wondered.

          “About two years,” the officer answered.

          “Well there’s always a first time for everything, I just hope we’re all lucky enough to never encounter any case as gruesome as this one ever again,” Donghae said.

          “Everyone good?” Kangin asked as he watched the officers finish fastening on their bulletproof vests.

          “Yes sir,” they all responded.

          “Alright, let’s be cautious when we get there; Gangnam officers, you know what these lunatics are capable of, Busan officers, be prepared to see anything,” Kangin instructed before the group made their way out to their police vehicles.

          After a fifteen minute drive, they turned down off the main road onto a dirt road. Making the slow trek down the gravelly path, the officers began to notice just how isolated from the public this place really was. Dense, thick trees surrounded both sides of the road, giving off an eerie vibe to an already haunting situation. As the warehouse came into view, the officers felt shivers run up and down their spines; the warehouse looked like something straight out of a horror film, the outside paint was chipping, most of the windows were broken or missing, and vines wrapping around certain areas of the old building. Quietly stepping out of the vehicles, the officers drew their guns as Kangin said “Everyone stay alert and watch each other’s backs.”

          The group headed towards the entrance to the warehouse, strangely enough not hearing any sound coming from inside. With fingers on their triggers, the officers watched Kangin silently count down from three before they all burst into the building. After announcing their presence, the officers froze as they saw something at the other end of the building, sitting strapped to a chair, underneath some flood lights. Slowly walking over to it, Donghae muttered “Please don’t be what I think you are.”

          Getting closer, Yoona called “Seunghyun?” However, the detective didn’t respond. She tried to run up to him, before being stopped by Kangin.

          “We need to approach with caution,” the captain reminded. Turning, he instructed “Siwon, check and see if he’s breathing.”

          Siwon nodded before slipping on a latex glove and slowly approaching his bound friend. Seunghyun’s chin was touching his chest as his head drooped down, forcing Siwon to carefully pull his head upright. When he did, everyone gasped as they saw one of Seunghyun’s eyes was missing, and blood had congealed from the bleeding socket and stained his face; they also noticed that there were several strips of barbed wire wrapped tightly around his throat, puncturing into the skin from multiple places as more blood began leaking out of his wounds. Yoona screamed and covered her mouth when she saw what had become of him. “No, no!” she begged as tears began spilling from her eyes.

          “Don’t look at it, don’t look at it,” Changmin muttered as he turned her away from the grisly scene, letting her bury her face in his chest as she continued sobbing, while Changmin himself felt tears well in his own eyes as he gazed at the remains of his partner and friend.

          The Gangnam officers looked over at their Busan partners, and saw them frozen with horror and disgust. “We, we need to call the EMTs,” Donghae slowly suggested as he got his voice back.

          “There’s no need for them at this point, we need the forensic team,” Kangin quietly corrected. Turning to one of the Busan officers, the captain requested “Call your forensic people, we need to get our detective properly taken care of.”

          After the Busan forensic team showed up, took photos of the crime scene, and carried Seunghyun away in a black body bag, the officers stepped out of the building to get a breath of fresh air. “You were right Detective Lee, those guys are insane,” one of the Busan officers admitted. “I’ve seen homicide victims before, but never as gruesome as that.”

          “Me neither,” another Busan officer agreed.

          “You don’t even wanna know everything we’ve seen these psychos do,” Donghae replied.

          A moment later, one of the forensic team members came out of the warehouse and walked up to Kangin, saying “Sir, we found a flash drive in Detective Choi’s hand as we were moving the body.” The man then handed Kangin a small white flash drive with the number 3516 etched onto it in Sharpie, before rejoining his team.

          “What do you think it means?” one of the Busan officers wondered.

          “They want us to look at whatever is on the device,” Donghae figured. “Why else would they hide it somewhere where we could easily find it?”

          “What’s the number on it though?” Siwon inquired. “Is it an address number, a password, or what?”

          “Let’s get back to the Busan precinct and check it out,” Kangin suggested.

          When they had all returned to the station, Kangin handed the flash drive to Yoona, asking “Are you able to handle this further?”

          Even though her eyes were red from crying, Yoona stood with a determined posture, stating “Yes sir, I want to find these bastards even more now.” She then took the flash drive from Kangin.

          “Alright,” Kangin believed. “If it gets to be too much, you can take a break.”

          “That’s okay sir,” Yoona replied as she sat down at one of the computers. “I’ll take a break after we catch them.”

          “She’s starting to sound like you now Donghae,” Siwon commented as he turned to the brunette detective.

          Accessing the flash drive’s files, Yoona discovered that the only thing on the flash drive was a forty five minute video. Clicking on it, she found that it was a copy of the live video that Kyuhyun and Yesung had sent to them, only now they could see everything, even after the signal had been cut off from the their end. Yoona called over the other officers and they watched the additional footage, mostly consisting of Kyuhyun and Yesung talking about what they were going to do to Seunghyun. As the video slowly creeped along, Donghae looked at the number on the flash drive again, 3516, suddenly remembered something from their las video, and had an idea. “Skip to thirty five minutes and sixteen seconds into the video,” he requested.

          “Why?” Yoona wondered.

          “I just want to test a theory,” Donghae responded.

          “Okay,” Yoona agreed. She then carefully scrolled the video feed over to the exact time that Donghae had asked for and allowed the video to play once again.

          “That son of a bitch better say every prayer he ever heard before I get a hold of him,” Kyuhyun growled as he fastened on a silencer to his gun.

          “I can’t believe Donghae would send him to a place with a doctor like that,” Yesung commented before glancing over at the camera for a quick second.

          “Fuck him, he knew what he was doing, but I’m gonna make it right,” Kyuhyun promised.

          “Okay pause it for a second,” Donghae requested. “They found out where Sungmin is, but did you all see that? Yesung looked at the camera after he made his statement. I think he was signaling to us.”

          “Why would he do that though, isn’t he one of the bad guys?” a Busan officer reminded.

          “He’s getting more of his memory back and realizing just how crazy Kyuhyun really is,” Changmin informed. “But why talk about the doctor? Donghae, did you do any research on the institution where you placed Sungmin?”

          “No, Dr. Kim said it was one of the best facilities and I trusted him on that because at the time I was busy with Yesung’s trial and worrying about Kyuhyun finding my cousin,” Donghae said. A bad feeling fell into the pit of his stomach as Donghae stepped back for a second. “Yoona, can you look into the Incheon Mental Institution and Dr. Kim Kibum and see if anything strange pops up?”

          “Sure, give me just a few seconds,” Yoona requested as she switched screens and began her research.

          Meanwhile, Kyuhyun and Yesung had finally reached the Incheon Mental Institution, and sat outside in the parking lot, looking at the building. “How do you wanna do this?” Yesung asked.

          “You stay here and keep the car going, we’ll need to make a quick exit; plus I wanna take care of this bastard myself,” Kyuhyun stated before climbing out of the car, hiding his gun in his jacket.

          Walking inside the front doors of the institution, Kyuhyun went over to the front reception desk where a woman greeted “Yes sir, can I help you?”

          “What floor is Dr. Kim Kibum on?” Kyuhyun questioned.

          “Do you have an appointment scheduled?” the woman asked.

          “No, and I don’t plan on making one,” Kyuhyun stoically replied.

          “Well I’m sorry sir, but I can’t let you in unless you have an appointment,” the receptionist apologized.

          Pulling out his gun, Kyuhyun aimed it at the woman and demanded “How about now? Is this a good enough reason to let me in?”

          The terrified woman pushed a button on the wall, which created a buzzing sound, unlocking the main door. “Dr. Kim is on floor three,” she said.

          “You’ve been most helpful,” Kyuhyun thanked with a smile before pulling the trigger, silently shooting the woman in her chest.

          Going through the doorway, Kyuhyun walked down the hallway towards the elevator when a couple of guards saw his gun. “Sir, put your gun down,” they instructed, pointing their taser guns at him. Kyuhyun simply shot both of them as well, not even stopping as the guards fell down and he climbed onto the elevator.

          Reaching the third floor, Kyuhyun walked over to the door with Dr. Kim’s name on it and forcefully kicked open the door, his gun at the ready, only to find that the doctor wasn’t there. Going over to his desk, Kyuhyun began tearing through papers and forms before finding which room Sungmin was in, room four on the fifth floor. Exiting the office, Kyuhyun went back towards the elevator when a couple of doctors exited a room. Before either of them could say anything, Kyuhyun shot them as well, not caring if he killed everyone in the entire God-forsaken place. Getting to the fifth floor, Kyuhyun hurried down the hallway to room four and quickly opened the door, to find Sungmin curled up on his bed, and Dr. Kim buttoning up his shirt. “I got you, you sick son of a bitch,” Kyuhyun growled as he gripped his gun tightly.

          “You must be Kyuhyun,” Dr. Kim calmly guessed. “You’ve been the only thing he’s talked about since he arrived; he is a sweet little thing isn’t he?”

          Hearing Dr. Kim laugh when he said this made Kyuhyun’s blood boil as he ordered “Get on your fucking knees.”

          “Really, is this necessary now, in front of Sungmin?” Dr. Kim asked.

          “Either you get on your knees willingly or I will make you,” Kyuhyun threatened, taking a step closer to the doctor.

          Kibum obliged Kyuhyun and dropped to his knees. “Now what?” he sarcastically wondered.

          Pressing the end of his gun to Kibum’s forehead, Kyuhyun said “Now I want you to die.”

          Before Kyuhyun could pull the trigger, he heard a soft voice mutter “Kyuhyun?”

          Turning to face Sungmin, who had previously been asleep because of being drugged, Kyuhyun saw the blonde sit up on his bed with wide eyes. “Minnie,” he echoed. This was the temporary distraction that allowed Dr. Kim to shove Kyuhyun out of the way as he started to flee from the room. Kyuhyun stepped out into the hallway, aimed his gun, and shot Kibum in the back of both legs, promptly sending the doctor onto the hard concrete floor. Figuring he’d deal with the doctor later, Kyuhyun reentered the room, set his gun down, and hurried to Sungmin, wrapping his arms tightly around the blonde.

          “Kyuhyun, oh my god Kyuhyun,” Sungmin cried as he hugged the dark brunette Korean tightly, burying his face in his lover’s neck. “It’s really you, you really came.”

          “I told you I’d come get you baby,” Kyuhyun reminded quietly as tears welled in his own eyes. “Everything’s alright now, I’m here, I’m gonna take you home with me.” The two looked at one another before kissing each other fervently. Kyuhyun felt Sungmin tremble against him as he placed his hands on the blonde’s face and nervously asked “Did he hurt you?”

          Sungmin nodded. “He, he shocked me, he drugged me, he would hold my head under ice water, and he –” Sungmin paused as he held Kyuhyun tighter. “He touched me.”

          Kyuhyun’s heart pounded as he kissed Sungmin’s face and shushed him gently. “It’s okay baby, I’m gonna take care of everything alright? I promise you, he will never touch you or anyone else again,” Kyuhyun whispered. Kissing Sungmin’s lips again, Kyuhyun added “Wait here, I’ll be right back.”

          Sungmin grabbed Kyuhyun’s hand, begging “Please, please don’t go again.”

          “I don’t want you to see what I’m about to do, just wait here for a minute and I’ll take you away from here and make sure no one ever hurts you again,” Kyuhyun muttered, running his fingers through Sungmin’s hair.

          Standing up, Kyuhyun moved to get his gun, before seeing a surgical knife on the table. His mind raced of what to do to punish the doctor for hurting his love, and finally settled on an idea. Going out into the hallway, Kyuhyun saw that Dr. Kim was dragging his body along the floor, trying to reach the elevator. Smirking, Kyuhyun walked over to the injured doctor and grabbed him by his hair, yanking him over to the wall, where he propped him upright in a sitting position. “You may think you won, but even if you kill me, you will have to live for the rest of your pathetic life knowing that someone else touched him, knowing that another man put his hands on him, kissed his skin, tasted him. Out of all the patients I’ve had in my professional career, he was my favorite, because of how resistant he was, never wanting to acknowledge that you weren’t coming; he loved you even though he knew the consequences of it,” Dr. Kim informed calmly as Kyuhyun glared at him.

          Kneeling down, Kyuhyun slammed Kibum’s head back against the wall and growled “You’re never going to touch my Minnie again; while you rot in Hell, I’ll be living happily with him, having a life, having intimacy, having a family, growing old together; you will never have that with him, because he loves me and only me, and he knows damn well that I would kill anyone who stood in the way of us being together. I will do everything in my power to make sure he forgets you and his time here in this fucking prison.”

          A quiet laugh formed in Kibum’s throat as he stated “The memories I have with him will keep me satisfied even as I burn in torment for eternity.”

          Swallowing roughly, Kyuhyun replied “I always hated people who talked too much.” Kyuhyun then swiped the knife forward, slitting Kibum’s throat, creating a large gash. But Kyuhyun wasn’t done yet. He forced his fingers into the wound, taking hold of Dr. Kim’s windpipe. Listening to the gurgling sounds coming from Kibum, knowing that he was choking on his own blood, Kyuhyun stared right into Kibum’s eyes as he roughly yanked out his trachea, causing a pool of blood began pouring from the large hole in his throat. Dr. Kim fell down dead as blood filled up his lungs, effectively drowning him in his own blood. Standing up, Kyuhyun dropped the knife and looked down at the doctor, satisfied with his demise, before heading back to Sungmin’s room. After he rinsed off his blood-soaked hands in the sink, Kyuhyun placed his gun back in his jacket, and went over to Sungmin, scooping up the blonde in his arms. “Let’s go home, okay?” he whispered gently, pressing a kiss to Sungmin’s cheek.

          Sungmin nodded as he buried his face in Kyuhyun’s neck and felt a sense of relief wash over him as Kyuhyun carried him out of the Incheon Mental Institution, paying no attention to the dead bodies that Kyuhyun had created on his way in. Heading over to the car where Yesung was waiting, Kyuhyun opened the back door and placed Sungmin inside before climbing in as well. “Everything go alright?” Yesung wondered.

          “Yeah, that doctor’s not going to be saying anything to anyone, I can promise you that,” Kyuhyun informed, as he held Sungmin close. “Let’s get out of here.”

          “First we have to stop in Seoul,” Yesung said.

          “Why there?” Kyuhyun inquired.

          “I’m gonna get Ryeowook, I found where his witness protection place is,” Yesung reminded.

          “Oh right,” Kyuhyun muttered, irritated that Yesung still wanted to rescue Ryeowook. At the moment though, Kyuhyun didn’t seem to care as much since he now had his Minnie back. Sungmin was curled up next to Kyuhyun’s chest, holding onto him tightly, terrified that the minute he let go of Kyuhyun that the two would be separated again. “It’s okay Minnie, you’re safe now,” he whispered to the blonde, rubbing his back gently as he kissed Sungmin’s forehead. “I won’t let anyone ever take you away from me again.”

          “Donghae, it’s not your fault,” Changmin said to the angry, pacing brunette detective.

          “How the fuck is it not my fault?! No wonder Sungmin never wanted to talk to me, I rescued him from one psycho only to allow another one to swoop in and take advantage of him,” Donghae stated as frustrated tears welled in his eyes.

          “How the hell does someone like that even find work in Korea after a scandal like that in the States?” Siwon inquired.

          “I think I know how,” Yoona informed. “I did some really deep digging in Dr. Kim’s background and found that he has a friend who is a judge in the Incheon courts, and after fleeing here, that judge pretty much had those allegations expunged from his record. I found some documents that indicate that the ruling was ordered less than a week after Dr. Kim arrived in Korea, but it was only on the basis that Dr. Kim change his name and become a court appointed psychiatrist so he could be monitored; but little help that did.”

          “I should’ve gone to see him, why didn’t I just go fucking see him?!” Donghae demanded as he knocked over a chair.

          “Donghae, you were trying to find Kyuhyun and Yesung; you didn’t know, okay, it’s not your fault,” Changmin repeated.

          “I just wanted Sungmin to be safe so he could heal, I would’ve never sent him there had I known what was waiting for him. He’s my cousin and I love him, I would never have wanted him to be traumatized again,” Donghae lamented as tears glistened in his eyes. “I was so focused on this case that I just sent him away. I’m a fucking cop and I couldn’t even keep my own family safe.”

          “Donghae, as police officers, we can’t protect everyone, even the ones we love the most, I learned that when I lost my husband,” Kangin reminded. “That’s the scariest part of the job, not knowing if your loved one is going to be the victim of the next crime that’s called in. But you do everything you can to make sure that the ones who hurt others pay for what they do.”

          “And you know that Kyuhyun is going to make Dr. Kim pay for what he did; it’s obvious that he and Yesung know where Sungmin is, why else would Yesung leave a breadcrumb trail for us to follow?” Changmin added.

          “They did go to the Incheon Mental Institution,” Yoona confirmed. “I just saw a news article posted online that there were six workers murdered at the hospital, and it’s reported that Dr. Kim was one of the victims.”

          “They’re going to be coming back; we should watch the traffic cameras near their warehouse and once we see them, we can head over and arrest them,” one of the Busan officers suggested.

          “We’ll watch in shifts because I know everyone is tired, especially my Gangnam squad,” Kangin replied. “Busan officers take the first couple of hours, while Gangnam officers rest, and then we’ll swap. Hopefully they’ll head back soon.”

          Meanwhile in Seoul, Yesung parked at the end of the street where Ryeowook’s witness protection location was. “Okay, I’m gonna go get him; hopefully this won’t take too long,” Yesung said as he started climbing out.

          “Do what you have to,” Kyuhyun responded before Yesung shut the door.

          Yesung pulled his hood up over his head, making sure his eyes were covered as he began to walk down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the building, taking note of how many officers were on site. Three cop cars sat in front of Ryeowook’s building, however Yesung could make out that one was vacant, indicating that there were between two to five cops inside. Needing a distraction for the officers in the cars, Yesung stopped next to an adjacent open lot and pulled out his lighter and eyed some old gas cans as a smile grew across his lips. A few minutes later, after hiding under a nearby bus stop awning, Yesung watched the officers rush out of their cars and over to the empty lot that now had large flames and smoke rising from it. Seizing the opportunity while the officers tried to put out the fire, Yesung hurried across the street, into the building where Ryeowook was being held, and up the elevator to the appropriate floor. As the doors opened, Yesung’s mouth dropped as he saw Ryeowook being escorted down the hallway by three officers. “Ryeowook,” he called.

          The brunette’s eyes widened as he and the officers turned in his direction. “Yesung?” Ryeowook asked in a hopeful tone.

          One of the officers took Ryeowook’s arm and forced him into his room as the other two cops charged towards Yesung. The raven haired Korean grabbed a fire extinguisher that was hanging on the wall nearby and smashed it into one of the officer’s faces, effectively taking him out in one go. The other officer pulled out his taser and aimed it at Yesung, ordering him to put his hands up. Yesung slowly obliged, as a plan brewed in his head. As the officer walked over to him and grabbed one of his arms to handcuff him, Yesung quickly turned and forced the officer into the wall, snatching his taser during the confusion and shocking him with it, knocking him out as well. Taking a breath, Yesung quickly made his way to Ryeowook’s room and kicked the door open, only to find the other officer pointing his taser gun at him already. “You’re not taking him, we have strict orders to not let you anywhere near him,” the officer informed.

          “Fuck the orders, he wants to be with me, and he will be leaving with me, even if I have to take you down like I did the others,” Yesung threatened.

          “Not today you won’t,” the officer rejected, putting his finger on the taser trigger.

          “Leave him alone, please don’t hurt him!” Ryeowook screamed as he ran into the room.

          “Go back to your room Mr. Kim, we’ve got everything under control here,” the officer ordered.

          “Please, just let me be with him, we love each other,” Ryeowook continued to beg. Without thinking, the officer turned to face Ryeowook to repeat his statement, only for Yesung to immediately fire his own taser at the officer, given the open window. After shocking the officer down to the floor, Yesung dropped the weapon and ran over to Ryeowook, wrapping his arms around the brunette as Ryeowook did the same to him. “Yesung,” Ryeowook whispered as he pressed his face against the raven haired Korean’s neck.

          “It’s okay Ryeowook, I told you I’d find you,” Yesung reminded. Looking at one another, Yesung gently kissed Ryeowook’s lips as he cupped his face in his hands. “I missed you.”

          “I missed you too,” Ryeowook echoed, tears spilling down his cheeks.

          “Let’s get your stuff packed and get out of here quick,” Yesung suggested.

          Ryeowook hurried into the bedroom and grabbed his duffel bag. “I’m ready,” he said. Seeing Yesung’s surprised face, Ryeowook clarified “I prepared my things every day just in case that would be the day you’d come for me, and today it paid off.”

          Smiling, Yesung laughed quietly before kissing Ryeowook’s lips again and taking his hand. “Let’s go,” he muttered before the two ran out of the building and past the officers who were still attempting to put out the vacant lot fire, over to the car where Kyuhyun and Sungmin were waiting. Ryeowook climbed into the front passenger seat, while Yesung got back into the driver’s seat and started driving off. “Everyone ready to go home?” he asked.

          “I am,” Ryeowook agreed as he looked over at Yesung and interlaced one of their hands together.

          “I know we are,” Kyuhyun added, while Sungmin nodded in agreement.

          After the two hour mark had passed, Siwon, Changmin, Donghae, and Yoona were awaken from their naps by the Busan officers letting them know it was time to switch places. “They’re still not back yet?” Siwon asked. “Even with traffic, they should’ve been back by now.”

          “Maybe they decided to make a couple of stops before heading back,” one of the Busan officers suggested.

          “We’ll keep an eye out for them, the sun’s starting to go down, so hopefully traffic will lighten some,” Donghae figured.

          As the minutes turned to hours, the E.L.F. kept watching the screens to see if Kyuhyun and Yesung’s vehicle was going to appear anytime soon. The monotony of the street cameras began to grow on the officers as one by one they started dozing off as the time grew late. After yawning and rubbing his tired eyes, Donghae thought he saw something familiar pop up on the screen. Running the feedback, Donghae zoomed in on the car passengers and after some enhancing, saw that Yesung and Ryeowook were in the front seat. Donghae looked at his team still fast asleep and stood up, grabbing his gun and strapping it into his hip holster as he quietly left the precinct and climbed into their vehicle, tearing down the road towards the location of the home that Kyuhyun and Yesung had purchased. “This ends now,” Donghae growled under his breath, ready to take down the two psychopaths once and for all.


	13. Chapter 13

          A few minutes later, Changmin groaned as he opened his tired eyes and rubbed the back of his neck, looking around the main area of the Busan precinct. The detective immediately sat up at attention when he saw that Donghae wasn’t there. “Guys, get up, get up, Donghae’s gone,” he quickly informed as he started shaking his fellow officers.

          One by one the rest of the group shot awake as Siwon asked “What the hell do you mean he’s gone?”

          “All is stuff is gone, so he had to have left the precinct,” Changmin pointed out.

          “Yoona, run the street camera footage back through the last half hour,” Kangin instructed. “Changmin, try and see if you can get Donghae on the phone; if my hunch is correct, he’s gonna try and go after Kyuhyun and Yesung on his own.”

          “Yes sir,” Changmin and Yoona simultaneously agreed before starting their requested tasks.

          As Yoona began running back camera footage, Changmin dialed Donghae’s number and swallowed roughly after each ring, hoping that his friend would respond. Finally, Changmin’s prayers seemed to be answered as he heard Donghae say “What is it Changmin?”

          “What is it?” the dark brunette detective repeated in an annoyed tone as he placed the phone on speaker mode. “Where the fuck are you? Why did you leave without telling any of us?”

          “I saw them on the cameras, I know they’re going to take Sungmin and Ryeowook to that house they purchased. I’m on my way there now,” Donghae explained.

          “Captain, I’ve got their vehicle appearing on street cameras near their assumed address at 2:47 am,” Yoona confirmed as she showed the other officers the same shot that Donghae had previously seen before he left.

          “Donghae listen to me, I want you pull over to the side of the road, send us your location, and wait for us, do you understand?” Kangin sternly commanded.

          “With all due respect captain, I’m through waiting, what good has come from us waiting?” Donghae replied.

          “Goddammit Donghae, it’s not a request, it’s a fucking order!” Kangin yelled. “I’m not losing another officer to these psychopaths!”

          “I’m sorry captain, but I have to do this,” Donghae said before hanging up the phone.

          “Fuck, everyone get your vests and guns, we’re going to assist Donghae before he gets himself killed,” Kangin instructed. The Gangnam and Busan officers didn’t hesitate to follow Kangin’s direction as they strapped back on their bulletproof vests, grabbed their guns, and headed towards their police vehicles.

          Reaching the long driveway that led to Kyuhyun and Yesung’s isolated home, Donghae killed the lights on his car so as not to alarm them of his arrival. Pulling out his service gun, Donghae stepped out onto the gravelly road and into the darkness of the night; only a couple of street lamps serving as his source of light, as well as the dim lights coming from the house about two hundred yards away. Taking a deep breath, Donghae slowly began walking down the rock-strewn driveway paying no attention to the two cars that had pulled up next to his own. Donghae’s eyes remained glued to the house that lie at the end of the path, his mind focused only on getting his cousin out of there, until his concentration was broken by someone pulling him back towards the street. Turning, Donghae asked “Changmin, what the hell is wrong with you?”

          “What the fuck is wrong with _you_?” Changmin questioned. “You honestly think it’s smart to go in there on your own?”

          “Yeah Donghae, what were you thinking?” Siwon added.

          “I was thinking I’d try and save my cousin,” Donghae replied.

          “I don’t care what the hell you were trying to do, when I tell you to stand down and wait for your team, you do it without hesitation, understood?” Kangin interjected firmly.

          “Yes sir,” Donghae said in an apologetic tone. “But now that you’re all here, I want us to finally put an end to all this chaos.”

          “And we want to as well Donghae, but we can’t just go barging in there though; they just got Sungmin and Ryeowook back today, and if we try and take them away this soon, Kyuhyun and Yesung may try something drastic,” Changmin reminded.

          “You don’t think they’d be that crazy do you?” Donghae asked.

          “After everything we’ve seen them do, it wouldn’t surprise me if they pull a Romeo and Juliet,” Siwon responded.

          “Would they really kill the ones they love?” one of the Busan officers questioned.

          “I don’t want to think about it or even give them the option,” Donghae rejected. “What do you guys suggest we do?”

          “Why don’t we just wait for them to make a move?” Yoona suggested. “We discretely sit on the house until one of them leaves and we go from there.”

          “That’s a great idea,” Kangin agreed. “We’ll sit in the vehicles, but keep the engines off and the windows rolled down slightly so we can listen for any movements. No one moves on the house without my say so.”

          “Yes sir,” the officers agreed before returning to their cars, waiting for the window of opportunity to open up to them.

          Meanwhile, inside the house, Yesung lie in his bed with Ryeowook curled up next to him, fast asleep in Yesung’s embrace. The raven haired Korean lay there awake just looking at Ryeowook as he stroked his hair with his fingertips; he was so relieved to have Ryeowook with him again, finally feeling happy for the first time in a long while. Placing his hand on Ryeowook’s face, Yesung gently stroked his thumb across the brunette’s cheek, whispering “I love you Ryeowook, more than anything else.” Yesung listened as Ryeowook moaned quietly in his sleep, causing him to smile at his lover as he placed a light kiss against Ryeowook’s lips, before holding him tighter and joining him in sleep.

          On the opposite end of the house, Kyuhyun and Sungmin both lie on their backs as they tried to catch their breath, following their most recent sexual interaction. “Does my baby feel better now?” Kyuhyun inquired as he rolled onto his side and began trailing his fingers up and down Sungmin’s torso.

          Sungmin smiled and nodded as he exhaled deeply, before turning his head to look at Kyuhyun. “I’m so glad to be back with you,” Sungmin whispered, moving closer to Kyuhyun. “I hated every minute of being in that hospital; I still don’t know why Donghae would put me in such a place.”

          “Minnie, as hard as this may be to hear, but Detective Lee doesn’t care about your wellbeing anymore, and honestly I don’t think he ever did. If he cared about you, he would’ve never sent you away like that, and he would’ve let us be together. Your cousin just wanted to control you and tell you how to feel; he tried to send you to a place where someone could manipulate and force you into changing your feelings for me, but you never did, and that’s a sign that we are meant to be together,” Kyuhyun explained as he slipped his arms around Sungmin’s body and lovingly kissed his lips. “I even went to talk to him at his apartment and he said that he would never let us be together as long as he and I were both alive, do you know what that means Minnie?”

          Sungmin looked at Kyuhyun as his lover stroked his blonde bangs and realized “He wants to kill you.”

          Immediately after saying that, Sungmin held Kyuhyun tighter and timidly trembled against him. Kyuhyun grinned before replying “Either he kills me, or I kill him, inevitably one will have to happen.”

          “I don’t wanna lose you again,” Sungmin mumbled into Kyuhyun’s neck.

          Hearing that made Kyuhyun smile as he began rubbing Sungmin’s back and shushing his trembling gently. “I understand Minnie, and don’t worry, I won’t let anything or anyone separate us again,” he quietly promised before kissing Sungmin once more.

          The next morning, out at the end of the driveway, the Gangnam and Busan officers yawned and rubbed their tired eyes. None of them had had any decent sleep in days and were mostly running on fumes now. Changmin looked over at Donghae and saw that the brunette officer seemed to be zoned out, gripping the steering wheel in both hands and staring at the house, seldomly seeming to blink. “Donghae,” Changmin said, reaching over to touch his friend’s shoulder.

          This caused Donghae to flinch as he turned and asked “What, what, did you hear something? Did you see them move?”

          “Donghae, maybe you should close your eyes for a few minutes and rest,” Changmin suggested.

          “No, the minute I close my eyes, that’s when they’ll make a move outside and I’ll miss it,” Donghae rejected as he grabbed his cold cup of coffee out of the center console. “It’s gonna be any minute, I know it will be.”

          Back inside the house, Ryeowook stretched as he woke up and found himself alone in bed. Not but a few moments later did Yesung enter the bedroom holding a cup. “Good morning,” he greeted with a smile.

          “Good morning,” Ryeowook echoed as a grin and light blush appeared across his face while he sat up.

          “Did you sleep well?” Yesung wondered.

          “Yes, one of the best nights in a long time,” Ryeowook confirmed.

          “I brought you some tea, I, I hope you like it,” Yesung awkwardly said, handing the cup to Ryeowook.

          “Thank you,” Ryeowook replied before taking a sip.

          “I’m sorry, I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do the morning after you spend the night with someone, but I do know that in the American dramas, one usually brings the other tea or coffee,” Yesung slowly explained as he sat down on the bed.

          Ryeowook giggled quietly at Yesung’s nervous rambling and before leaning forward and kissing Yesung’s lips. “It’s perfect, thank you, you’re the first person to do this for me,” the brunette responded. “My ex never did anything like this, he always said it was my job to serve and take care of his needs.”

          Yesung reached his hand out and placed it on Ryeowook’s face. “And now it’s my job to take care of you,” he said before the two kissed again.

          On the other side of the house, Sungmin stood inside the bathroom adjacent to his and Kyuhyun’s bedroom, brushing his teeth at the sink. He watched in the mirror as Kyuhyun entered the bathroom as well and turned on the faucet to the shower before undressing and turning to face him. “I’m gonna go make some breakfast for us, anything special you’d like?” Sungmin wondered.

          “Do you think maybe breakfast could wait for a bit?” Kyuhyun inquired as he walked up behind Sungmin and began trailing his fingertips up and down the blonde’s arms. Kyuhyun pressed his lips to Sungmin’s neck, kissing and playfully biting his skin before whispering “I’m about to shower, do you wanna join me? You know my hands are very thorough.” As he said this, Kyuhyun slid a hand down Sungmin’s torso and into his boxers, brushing his fingers against the blonde’s member, causing Sungmin to gasp and throw his head back.

          “Yes,” Sungmin exhaled sharply, immediately feeling Kyuhyun rip off his clothing and take his hand, pulling Sungmin into the shower with him.

          A few hours later, Ryeowook and Yesung sat outside on the back porch swing, listening to the wind blow and rustle the leaves on all the trees surrounding the house. “It’s so peaceful here,” Ryeowook commented as he leaned his head against Yesung’s shoulder.

          “Yeah it is, do you like it here?” Yesung wondered, taking Ryeowook’s hand and interlacing their fingers together.

          “I do, although I kinda wish it was just you and me here,” Ryeowook admitted.

          “I know, but now that Kyuhyun has his Minnie back, I don’t think he’ll be so hostile towards you,” Yesung figured.

          “I hope not,” Ryeowook agreed. “I’m gonna go get something to drink, do you want me to bring you anything?”

          “No, I’m good,” Yesung promised, watching Ryeowook stand up and walk into the house.

          As Ryeowook entered the kitchen, he gasped quietly and paused; Kyuhyun was in the kitchen, standing at the stove, cooking something. “What do you want?” Kyuhyun growled as he looked up and saw Ryeowook.

          “J-just water,” Ryeowook nervously informed before retrieving a glass from the cabinet and pouring some water into the cup.

          After quickly drinking the water down, Ryeowook set the glass back on the countertop and began scurrying out of the kitchen before Kyuhyun snapped “Sink.”

          Ryeowook stopped and turned back. “What?” he asked in a scared voice.

          “If you’re done, put your fucking cup in the sink,” Kyuhyun demanded.

          “Oh, s-sorry,” Ryeowook apologized as he slowly walked back towards the kitchen.

          “God you’re fucking stupid; it’s no wonder your ex had to aggressively put you in line so many times, you can’t even remember to put a fucking dish away after you use it,” Kyuhyun grumbled under his breath, but made sure it was loud enough for Ryeowook to hear.

          “Yesung doesn’t think I’m stupid,” Ryeowook informed cautiously, setting his cup in the sink.

          “That’s because Yesung is a bigger idiot than you are,” Kyuhyun retorted.

          “Don’t talk about him like that,” Ryeowook said, only to be met with Kyuhyun grabbing him by the throat and shoving him back against the refrigerator.

          “Listen to me you little bitch, this is my house and I’ll talk to you any goddamn way I want, and if you ever think about speaking out of line to me like that again –” Kyuhyun began before pausing to reach into a nearby drawer to retrieve the gun they had taken off Seunghyun. “I’ve got a bullet in here with your name on it and I’d be more than happy to let you two get acquainted any time you’re ready. Now get the fuck out of my sight.”

          Kyuhyun released his hold on Ryeowook, dropping the brunette to the floor. Ryeowook gasped for air as he choked and coughed, trying to get his breath back. From an open window, Yesung could hear Ryeowook coughing and suddenly his head started throbbing as he fell out of the swing and onto his knees as he gripped his head and groaned in pain. Suddenly, he remembered back to when he heard Ryeowook coughing that violently once before, when Ryeowook was trapped in a burning warehouse. _“Say goodbye to your bitch Yesung.”_ The raven haired Korean remembered Kyuhyun saying this before setting the warehouse on fire in an attempt to kill Ryeowook. As his memory became clear again, Yesung thought back to when Kyuhyun made him believe that the reason he and Ryeowook got separated was because of Donghae and the rest of the 18 th Precinct, when all the time Kyuhyun had just been manipulating him. He even remembered when Ryeowook had tried to explain to him that Kyuhyun had hurt him before, but didn’t believe him. Now that he remembered the truth, Yesung was absolutely furious. Standing up, Yesung exhaled deeply through clenched teeth as he rushed into the house and shoved Kyuhyun back against the wall. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Kyuhyun demanded as he was caught off guard.

          “You, you’re the reason why I almost lost Ryeowook; you tried to kill him, why would you do that you son of a bitch?!” Yesung demanded. “You know I love him and you tried to take away my happiness when I all I ever did was help you find yours.”

          “Because at the end of the day you don’t mean shit to me; I only used you to get what I wanted, I never gave a fuck about what you wanted; I only let you believe I did so you would keep working with me, but now that I have what I want again, neither you or your little bitch matter to me, you’re both just weak and pathetic, destined to be controlled by stronger, smarter people all of your lives,” Kyuhyun harshly responded. “I wish I would’ve just killed him when I had the chance.”

          Hearing this made Yesung’s blood boil as he tightened his fist and punched Kyuhyun across the face before tackling him to the ground. Getting on top of Kyuhyun, Yesung wrapped his hands around Kyuhyun’s throat, wanting to squeeze the life out of him. “Get off him!” Sungmin screamed, just coming into the kitchen and seeing the scene before him. Running over, Sungmin shoved Yesung off of Kyuhyun, giving his lover a chance to catch his breath. Once he did, Kyuhyun charged at Yesung and knocked him into the living room, flipping him over the couch, causing the raven haired Korean to crash into the glass coffee table. “What’s going on?” Sungmin asked Ryeowook as they stood out of the way.

          “It’s hard to explain,” Ryeowook said before the two backed into another room, peeking out the doorway to watch their lovers fight.

          Picking up a large glass shard, Yesung began swiping at Kyuhyun, cutting him across the arms a couple of times. “I should’ve never trusted you, I never should’ve believed any of the bullshit you told me,” Yesung growled as he dropped the glass and shoved Kyuhyun back again.

          “You didn’t seem to mind when we fucking killed those officers who were hiding your precious lover from you,” Kyuhyun reminded as he knocked Yesung back into the wall before kneeing him in the stomach, causing Yesung to drop to his knees again. Kyuhyun took a breath before turning and grabbing the gun off the countertop. “I’ll finish him off here and now,” he promised, stumbling towards where Ryeowook was hiding.

          “You won’t touch him ever again!” Yesung screamed as he grabbed Kyuhyun’s wrist in an attempt to take the gun away from him. “You’re not gonna yell at him, hit him, threaten him, or do anything to him ever again!” Yesung and Kyuhyun both struggled for the gun, both ending up with their fingers on the trigger at one point. Suddenly, the gun went off as a bullet shot through the kitchen window.

          From outside, Donghae sat up straighter. “Gun-shot, I heard a gun-shot coming from the house,” he announced before climbing out of the car. The others heard it as well, rushing out of their vehicles and running down the driveway towards the house, Donghae leading the way.

          Back inside, Yesung managed to knock the gun out of Kyuhyun’s reach before taking his hand and forcing it down onto the hot burner that was still on, on the stove. Kyuhyun yelled out in pain before grabbing the handle of the pot he’d been cooking in earlier and smashed it against Yesung’s face, sending the raven haired Korean back against the wall. As Yesung tried to regain his composure, he froze as Kyuhyun rushed him and inhaled sharply, feeling a growing pain in his abdomen. Looking down, Yesung saw what was presumably a knife sticking out of his body, with Kyuhyun’s hand forcing it there. Yanking out the large kitchen knife, Kyuhyun watched as Yesung slowly slid down the kitchen wall, gasping for breath. “Yesung!” Ryeowook screamed, as he rushed over to his raven haired lover and knelt down next to him, trying to help him apply pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding. “It’s okay, you’re gonna be okay, you’re gonna be okay,” Ryeowook tried to convince, not paying any attention to anything else other than Yesung.

          Raising the knife again, Kyuhyun growled “Now you both get to die.”

          Before bringing the knife down on Ryeowook, everyone seemed to freeze when another shot rang out. Turning, from the back of the house, the four house occupants saw Donghae slowly walking inside, his service gun out. Kyuhyun dropped the knife as he felt a pain grow in his chest, and gazed down to see a red wound growing over his heart from where the bullet entered his body. “No!” Sungmin yelled as he watched Kyuhyun fall to the ground, blood pooling around him. Running up to his lover, Sungmin knelt down and tried to stop the bleeding, but found his efforts to be futile. “Kyuhyun, it’s okay, I’m gonna help you just like last time, you’re gonna be okay,” Sungmin cried.

          Kyuhyun looked up at Sungmin and reached up a shaky, blood-covered hand to touch the blonde’s face. “Sungmin,” Kyuhyun muttered, causing his lover’s eyes to widen. “I’m sorry.” Kyuhyun then closed his eyes and allowed his hand to drop from Sungmin’s face as Kyuhyun took his last breath.

          “No, no, no, no God please no!” Sungmin begged as he held Kyuhyun close and sobbed uncontrollably. “Please, please don’t leave me, please, please Kyuhyun, please.”

          Lowering his service gun, Donghae tried to approach them slowly, saying “Sungmin, we need to –”

          “Get away from him!” Sungmin screamed angrily as tears poured down his face. This outburst caused not just Donghae, but the other officers to take a step back. “You killed him you monster!”

          Hearing his cousin yell that caused tears to prick at Donghae’s eyes, as he calmly tried to continue “Sungmin, there was no other way; he was about to kill two people. Now c’mon, we need to go, so the ambulances can look at you all.”

          Sungmin stood up and gripped the gun that Kyuhyun had dropped next to him, aiming it at Donghae. Instinctively, Donghae raised his own gun again. “You, you took him from me,” Sungmin cried as his hands shook. “He called me by my name Donghae, I know he loves me.”

          “Sungmin, he didn’t love you, now please put the gun down,” Donghae nervously requested.

          “He loved me enough to rescue me from the hospital,” Sungmin replied. “Do you wanna know what that doctor did to me Donghae? Do you wanna hear all about how your little cousin was taken advantage of by the doctor _you_ put him with?!”

          Donghae felt guilt wash over him as he apologized “I know, and I’m so sorry Sungmin, I promise I had no idea.”

          “You had no idea because you didn’t give a fuck about me!” Sungmin yelled as tears kept spilling down his face and he kept the gun pointed at his cousin. “All you cared about was taking care of Hyukjae; you just tossed me aside like I was nothing. Kyuhyun wanted to take care of me, he made the pain go away, and you just couldn’t deal with that could you?”

          Sungmin began taking small steps towards Donghae. The brunette cop swallowed roughly, firmly gripping his own gun and begging “Sungmin, please put the gun down and I’ll talk to you.”

          “No you won’t, you’ll just ship me off to another hospital because you think I’m crazy,” Sungmin denied. “I fucking hate you Donghae! You killed the only person who loved me, and now I’m gonna kill you.”

          “Sungmin please,” Donghae pleaded, tears now rolling down his own face. When he heard the sound of Sungmin click the gun, ready to fire, Donghae had no choice; he closed his eyes and pulled the trigger, allowing his gun to go off. Upon opening his eyes, Donghae saw Sungmin stand perfectly still with a red mark growing on his chest, before the blonde dropped the gun and fell to the floor dead, landing next to Kyuhyun’s body. Donghae lowered his gun and sunk to his knees as he screamed, feeling sobs take control of his body at the realization of what he had just been forced to do.

          The other officers moved in, taking Ryeowook and Yesung out to an ambulance that had just pulled up, while Changmin, Siwon, and Yoona knelt down next to Donghae to comfort him in silence. Minutes later, they escorted Donghae outside, still obviously still in shock, and watched as the EMT’s wheeled out two black body bags on gurneys. Seeing this made Donghae lurch over and vomit, his emotions were eating him alive. “We’re gonna take them back to Gangnam and get this all sorted out,” Kangin slowly informed. “Donghae, I want you to take as much time off as you need, understand?”

          Donghae didn’t seem to hear the captain, he just stood there in a daze. “We’ll remind him captain,” Changmin promised. “C’mon dude, let’s get you home.”

          “No, Suwon, I have to go to Suwon,” Donghae monotonically reminded.

          “Okay,” Siwon agreed as he, Changmin, and Yoona helped Donghae into a vehicle.

          Once they reached Suwon, Donghae rode up the elevator to his parents’ apartment and knocked on the door. As the door opened, and Donghae was face to face with Hyukjae again, the brunette could only wrap his arms around the blonde and hold him tightly as he whispered “It’s over with.”

          “What happened?” Hyukjae gently asked.

          “Donghae?” Mrs. Lee called as she entered the room.

          Seeing his mother caused Donghae to start mentally breaking down again. “Mom, I have to tell you something,” he cried as tears slipped down his face.


	14. Chapter 14

          The next couple of days proved to be the hardest and longest days Donghae had ever experienced. Since the case was coming to a close, he and Hyukjae were allowed to return to their apartment, but Donghae knew he would never look at the place the same again. He would awaken many times during the night due to the horrific reliving of killing his cousin playing over and over in his mind, each time more graphic and vivid in nature. By the end of the week, Donghae didn’t want to sleep anymore, he would just sit in the living room, curled up on the couch, staring outside at the rain. He and Hyukjae exchanged only a handful of words a day, as Donghae didn’t want to talk about what happened any more than he had too. But even still, Hyukjae would silently slide next to him on the couch or the bed and lay his head against Donghae’s back or chest, letting him know he was there for him, as the two slipped their arms around one another. Hyukjae could feel Donghae’s body shake as the detective would quietly let tears run down his face, causing him to hold Hyukjae tighter. Telling his family about Sungmin’s death had been the most challenging thing Donghae had ever experienced; he could barely get through telling his parents without sobbing, while his mother comforted him to the best of her ability, but then there were his aunt and uncle he had to tell as well. They were horrified to hear about what all had happened to their son over the past few months, and angered at Donghae’s unforgivable actions. Both had yelled at him for being stupid and unable to keep Sungmin safe when they had placed so much trust in him. Donghae knew they were angry and sad, but that didn’t stop him from leaving in tears as his aunt and uncle called him a despicable human being and a murderer.

          Donghae lie in bed next to Hyukjae and watched his boyfriend sleep soundly. The brunette smiled as he stroked Hyukjae’s hair, he was just happy that someone in the apartment was able to get some rest. Early the next morning, Donghae’s alarm rang out and the tired detective groaned as he sat up, threw his legs over the side of the bed, and rubbed his eyes. “Did you sleep any last night?” Hyukjae concerningly asked as he sat up and gently rubbed Donghae’s back.

          “Maybe an hour at the most,” Donghae mumbled.

          Hyukjae wrapped his arms around Donghae’s chest as he leaned his head against the brunette’s back. “I’m sorry Donghae,” he whispered.

          “It’s alright, it’s the longest I’ve slept all week,” Donghae replied.

          “Not that, I’m sorry for everything else,” Hyukjae corrected. “Everything that happened is because of me.”

          “No, it’s not, why would you think that?” Donghae asked, turning to face his lover.

          “Because I’m not stupid Donghae; I overheard what you told your parents, how Sungmin accused you of not caring for him because you were busy taking care of me, which is true. If I had just stayed where I was, you could’ve helped your cousin,” Hyukjae figured. “I don’t know how you can even stand to be in the same room with me, let alone still want to sleep next to me.”

          “Because I don’t blame you for any of it,” Donghae promised as he took Hyukjae’s face in his hands and looked into his eyes. “You needed help just as much as he did, if not more. I was the one who didn’t think things through, not you. I wanted to take care of you, and I still do. None of this is your fault, okay? I love you and that’s not gonna change.” Donghae leaned forward and gently pressed a kiss to Hyukjae’s lips.

          Afterwards, Donghae stood up and dressed himself in his police uniform. Today was both Seunghyun and Sungmin’s funerals, and Donghae knew this would be one of the longest days he’d ever endure. “Do you want me to go with you?” Hyukjae asked as he watched Donghae finish getting ready.

          “Only the 18th and 16th precincts are attending Seunghyun’s, and my family is already gonna despise seeing me at Sungmin’s; I don’t wanna think about what they’d say to you if they saw you,” Donghae reminded. He leaned down and kissed Hyukjae once more. “I’ll be home later though; there’s something I think you and I should seriously talk about.”

          “Is it bad?” Hyukjae wondered as his heart pounded.

          “No it’s not, I think it’ll be good for both of us,” Donghae promised, stroking his thumb across Hyukjae’s cheek. He smiled at the blonde before leaving their apartment.

          By the time Seunghyun’s funeral had started that afternoon, the rain hadn’t lightened up any, but that didn’t hinder the 18th and 16th precincts from carrying on with the precession. Donghae stood next to Changmin, Yoona, and Siwon and listened as the 16th precinct captain spoke about Seunghyun’s many good years of service and how he was going to be missed. After he spoke, the captain allowed Kangin to step forward and give a few words as well. “Officer Choi was only at my precinct for a short time, but in that short time he grew close to several of my officers, along with his partner Officer Shim. Seunghyun put everything he had into making sure that a case would be solved, never wanting to leave any stone unturned, even if it pushed the boundaries of questionable behavior. During his last hours, he still fought for his life, never once giving in to what the psychopaths that kidnapped and brutally tortured him wanted. His service to my precinct will not soon be forgotten, and today the city of Gangnam mourns the loss of one of the best officers it’s ever had,” Kangin stated before moving to stand next to his precinct. A couple of officers began playing horns as Seunghyun’s coffin was lowered slowly into its grave, while both the 18th and 16th precinct looked on and saluted their fallen officer.

          When the funeral had ended, Donghae turned to Changmin, Siwon, and Yoona and asked “How’ve you guys been this week?”

          “We’re making it,” Changmin said as Siwon and Yoona nodded in agreement. “But enough about us, how’ve you been?”

          “I’m alright,” Donghae lied. “The first few nights were the worst though.”

          “How was Sungmin’s funeral?” Siwon wondered.

          “Very uncomfortable, my family kept staring at me the whole time with this look of disappointment and resentment. The only ones who aren’t angry and still even want to talk to me are my parents,” Donghae explained. “I tried to apologize several times, but no one wants to listen to me.”

          “They’re still just in the grieving process Donghae, give them some time,” Changmin encouraged.

          “They all kept demanding what caused me to kill my own cousin, why I would turn against my own family,” Donghae continued. “It’s because when he was holding that gun, aiming it right at me, screaming how he hated me, in that moment, when I looked into his eyes, he wasn’t the Sungmin I knew anymore; he was just this twisted, manipulated being that Kyuhyun had created, and for the first time I was scared of him and I honestly believed he would kill me. My family asked why I didn’t just shoot him in the leg or in the stomach, or someplace where he could’ve lived, but I don’t think Sungmin wanted to live anymore now that Kyuhyun was dead.”

          “As sad as it is to say, and as much as you probably don’t wanna hear this, at least they ended up together after all,” Changmin slowly reminded.

          Donghae nodded and muttered under his breath, “They’re together forever.”

          Kangin walked over and greeted his officers before asking “Have any of you heard about the whereabouts of Yesung and Kim Ryeowook?”

          The four looked at their captain before Siwon asked “No, why? I thought Yesung was supposed to be taken to jail upon his hospital release and Ryeowook was to be put back in hiding.”

          “That was the plan, however the officers who went to escort them from the hospital to their locations say that they were gone when they showed up,” Kangin informed. “They just vanished.”

          “Maybe they should just stay that way captain,” Donghae suggested, thinking back to several days prior.

          _*Flashback 4 days ago*_

          Inside a room at Gangnam Emergency Hospital, Yesung lie in one of the beds, with one wrist handcuffed to the bedrail. He and Ryeowook had been taken to the hospital so that he could be treated for his stab wound, and so Ryeowook could be checked for any injuries. After Ryeowook had been cleared by the doctors, several officers from the 18th precinct tried to escort him away from Yesung, only for the brunette to scream and break free from the officers, barricading himself in Yesung’s room, wanting to talk to Donghae. An hour later, Donghae arrived and asked the other cops “What’s going on exactly?”

          “We were trying to get Kim Ryeowook out so we could take him to his new witness location, but the minute we tried to touch him, he started screaming how he wouldn’t go, and ran into that room down there, locking himself inside. He said the only way he’d come out willingly is if he could talk to you first,” one of the officers explained.

          “Alright, I’ll take care of it,” Donghae responded. The brunette detective walked down to the appropriate room and knocked on the door. “Ryeowook, it’s Detective Lee, can I come inside?” he requested.

          “Are you alone?” Ryeowook wondered.

          “Yeah, it’s just me,” Donghae confirmed. Ryeowook unlocked the door and opened it slightly, peeking out to make sure Donghae wasn’t lying, before opening the door for the detective to enter. “What’s going on?” he asked as Ryeowook locked the door again.

          “They’re trying to separate us again,” Ryeowook said as he walked over to Yesung’s bed and lie down next to his lover, lightly slipping an arm around Yesung’s waist.

          “You knew this was going to happen if we caught you guys,” Donghae reminded.

          “Detective Lee please, we don’t want to be separated, we just got back together; we only got caught because Yesung was trying to protect me from Kyuhyun, please don’t punish him for that,” Ryeowook begged as he buried his face in Yesung’s chest and cried quietly, tightening his hold on Yesung.

          The raven haired Korean stroked Ryeowook’s hair and shushed him quietly, placing a kiss on top of his head before looking up at Donghae. “Donghae, you owe me remember?” Yesung muttered.

          The detective swallowed, thinking back to when Yesung stopped Kyuhyun from murdering Hyukjae. “That was different, no one is threatening to kill Ryeowook,” Donghae reminded.

          “Donghae please, he’s all I have, and if I’m sent back to prison, there’s no way we’ll ever see one another again except through a Plexiglas window,” Yesung said.

          Looking at Ryeowook, Donghae saw the brunette trembling against Yesung, holding onto him as though he would die if he let go. He watched Yesung cradle Ryeowook with one arm and hush him again sweetly, kissing his forehead ever so often, whispering that everything was going to be alright. Donghae sighed before taking a deep breath and replied “Okay.”

          Several minutes later, Donghae exited the hospital room and walked back down to the end of the hallway where the two officers were waiting. “How’d it go?” one of the asked.

          “Here’s the plan, they want me to be the one to escort them to their locations, so I’ll take them in the morning after Yesung is cleared by the doctors,” Donghae informed.

          “I thought he was cleared today?” another officer asked.

          “Well apparently his doctor wants to keep him for one final night of observation, which wouldn’t hurt,” Donghae responded.

          “Alright, well thanks for doing this for us Donghae, sorry to call you up here while you’re on leave,” an officer said.

          “It’s no problem, I’ll stop by the precinct on my way home and tell the captain the plan so he can be informed,” Donghae added.

          “Well before you go, at least let us get you some coffee downstairs, it’s the least we could do,” the other cop offered.

          “That’d be good, you guys head down to the hospital cafeteria, I’ll join you in a second, I have to call my boyfriend and let him know I’ll be home later,” Donghae said, pulling out his phone. The other officers nodded before heading down on the elevator. As soon as the doors closed, Donghae walked back down to Yesung’s room and knocked on the door. It opened to reveal Yesung and Ryeowook dressed in the same clothes they’d come into the hospital wearing. “Let’s go,” he muttered as he closed the door, before cautiously leading them down to the front lobby of the hospital. Once they were in the lobby, Donghae looked outside and unlocked his vehicle with his car fob, telling the two “Go wait in the car and lock the doors, I’ll be right out.” Yesung and Ryeowook didn’t question Donghae as they hurried to the car. The detective joined the two other officers in the hospital cafeteria and said “I’m sorry guys but I need to take a raincheck on the drink; Hyukjae’s anxiety is starting to act up and I need to get home.”

          “No problem Donghae,” the two officers responded before watching Donghae rush out of the cafeteria, having no idea of what was really going on.

          Donghae unlocked his car again and climbed inside, starting it up and driving away from the hospital as quickly as possible. The car ride was silent, until Yesung noticed that Donghae was entering onto a highway that would lead them out of Seoul. “Donghae, where are we going?” Yesung asked from the backseat.

          “You have passports?” Donghae asked stoically inquired.

          “Yes, Kyuhyun had me make one for all four of us in case we ever needed them,” Yesung confirmed.

          “Today you’re gonna need them,” Donghae informed before tossing his phone back to Yesung. “I want you to order two plane tickets to anywhere outside of Korea, something that leaves today.” Yesung didn’t ask any other questions, just did what Donghae told him to do so. Once he had the tickets picked out, he handed Donghae his phone back, causing the detective to pull over at a gas station to fill up the tank. As the car was being fueled, Donghae paid for the tickets using his information, so as not to trace it back to Yesung and Ryeowook, before climbing back into the car and pulling off onto the highway once more. After about an hour of driving, the three had entered the city of Busan and not long after that, Donghae found himself for the second time that week driving down a gravel driveway of a familiar house. Parking right outside, Donghae instructed “Go inside, each of you pack a bag with the essentials, get your passports, and any money you have. Be back in ten minutes.”

          Yesung and Ryeowook did just that, hurrying into the house, getting only what they needed, before both returned to the police car carrying a duffel bag each. “Alright Donghae, we’re good,” Yesung said as he and Ryeowook closed the back doors of the cop car.

          Donghae then drove them to the Gimhae International Airport, located on the western side of Busan. “You got your phone?” Donghae asked Yesung.

          “Yeah,” the raven haired Korean replied.

          “I’m gonna email you your ticket information; they’re bought and paid for, all you have to do is go in and print them out,” Donghae informed.

          “Donghae we don’t know how to thank you for doing this for us,” Yesung said.

          “There’s only one thing I request in return,” Donghae stated. “Both of you are about to disappear, once you leave Korea, I want you two to never ever come back for any reason. Wherever you’re going, that’s your safe house; I know you can create new identities, and you probably already have, so just go into hiding and stay there, because the minute I find you back here, I won’t hesitate to put your ass in prison, do you understand what I’m telling you?”

          “Every word,” Yesung agreed as Ryeowook nodded.

          “Then this is where I leave you; go, your flight leaves in an hour,” Donghae said before Yesung and Ryeowook opened the backdoors and rushed inside the airport.

          After printing out their flight tickets, they took their tickets and new passports to the proper gate, before being checked. “Names please,” the lady at the ticket counter requested.

          Handing the woman their items, Yesung spoke up, “I’m Jeremy Kim, and this is my husband Christopher Kim, and we’re on our way back home after visiting family.”

          Looking at the passport, the woman commented “Oh wow, all the way from Seattle, Washington in America.” After stamping their passports, and returning them to Yesung and Ryeowook. “Have a safe trip home.”

          “Thank you, we will,” Ryeowook replied before he and Yesung boarded the plane. Sitting down in their seats, the two looked at one another and smiled before kissing each other’s lips. Ryeowook lie his head on Yesung’s shoulder as Yesung gazed out the window, waiting for the plane to take off, happy to get to start a new life with the one he loved.

          _*End Flashback*_

“They’re gone captain, they’re not gonna hurt anyone anymore,” Donghae promised.

          Kangin looked at Donghae’s expression and understood what his detective meant. He nodded and muttered “Okay Donghae, we’ll officially close the case.”

          The next day, at the precinct, Changmin entered bright and early and found Yoona already there, cleaning out her desk. “What’s going on?” he inquired.

          “I asked to be transferred to another precinct; I can’t stand looking at his desk every day,” Yoona informed. “It’s just a constant reminder of what could’ve been, and how I’m not ready to be a field officer yet.”

          “What are you talking about?” Changmin asked.

          As she stopped packing, Yoona said “Before he got taken, Seunghyun apologized for not being mature enough for our relationship and wanted to start over. He wanted us to try for a family again, and I was ready, I was ready Changmin.”

          The girl started crying as Changmin stepped over and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “He always thought about you and talked about you,” Changmin responded. “Seunghyun always said that if he bettered himself, it would be because of you. He loved you, and he knew you loved your job, and I’m sure the last thing he wants is for you to give up on wanting to be a field agent just because he’s gone. Seunghyun knew you wanted that from the first day in the academy; the best thing you can do to remember him is to keep going, and we’re here for you as your team and friends.”

          “If I stay, everything I do will be for him,” Yoona replied. “I wanna make him as proud as he made me.”

          Changmin smiled and reassured “He’s always been proud of you, even when you guys were separated. Now c’mon, let me help you unpack; you’re staying right here with us.” Yoona grinned at her friend as she nodded in agreement.

          A couple hours later, after Siwon showed up, he asked Changmin and Yoona, “Have you guys seen the captain today?”

          “Yeah, he’s in his office; Donghae came by saying he needed to talk to him, about what we don’t know,” Yoona informed. The three looked up as the door to the captain’s office opened, and out walked Donghae, followed by Kangin.

          Seeing the expression on both their faces, Siwon asked “What’s going on?”

          Donghae swallowed and stated “I’m leaving.”

          Siwon, Changmin, and Yoona’s eyes all widened as they were stunned by those two words. “What do you mean, like you’re transferring?” Siwon inquired.

          “No, I’m done being a cop,” Donghae solemnly informed.

          “Were you fired?” Changmin asked.

          “Is it because of the shooting?” Yoona added.

          “I wasn’t fired, I resigned, and yes it’s because of my cousin’s passing,” Donghae explained. “I thought about this long and hard all week long, I haven’t been able to sleep or eat much, it’s difficult for me to live in my apartment after what happened; I can’t do this life anymore, the cop life. I’m taking Hyukjae, and we’re moving down to Jeju.”

          “What are you gonna do down there?” Changmin questioned.

          “My dad’s best friend owns a fish shop down there and he’s getting up there in years, so I’m going to help him, and my parents have a nice rental beach home, and the tenants just moved out last week, so we’ll stay there for a while until a better place becomes available,” Donghae informed. “It’s what has to happen guys, I’m suffering from my own PTSD now, luckily not too severe so I can still help Hyukjae heal, but a change of scenery will be good for us.”

          “Captain, is this really happening?” Changmin wondered, looking over at Kangin.

          “I’m afraid so, Donghae just finished signing his pension forms,” Kangin confirmed.

          “I’m sorry to do this to you guys, but I’m not gonna be of any use to E.L.F. if I’m not at one hundred percent, and right now I’m far from that,” Donghae apologized.

          “You don’t have to apologize Donghae,” Yoona responded.

          “Yeah, we completely understand your reasoning,” Siwon agreed.

          “We just hope you’ll keep in touch with us, because we’ll have to come visit sometime,” Changmin added.

          Donghae smiled. “Of course guys, that would be awesome,” he said.

          “Hey, you take care of yourself Donghae,” Kangin instructed with a grin. “That’s an order.”

          “Yes sir,” Donghae promised, shaking the captain’s hand.

          “The door is always open if you ever want to come back and our phones are always on if you ever need to talk,” Kangin reminded. “E.L.F. will always be here for you.”

          “Thank you guys, that means a lot,” Donghae replied before he cleaned out his desk, loading all his items into a box. Picking up the cardboard container, Donghae smiled at his team and said “Bye guys, stay safe out there.” The brunette now ex-detective then walked out of the precinct for the last time.

          “Now E.L.F. has lost two members, both in the same week,” Changmin noted.

          “I know,” Siwon agreed.

          “But you’re also gaining two more members today,” Kangin announced.

          “What?” Siwon and Changmin both asked.

          “As of today, Officer Im Yoona is going to join E.L.F.,” Kangin stated. Seeing her widened eyes and dropped mouth, Kangin continued “I was very impressed with your quick thinking during the case; you will still be head of the IT department here, but when E.L.F. has a case, you will join them in their investigations, as well as in the field also; congratulations Officer Im, the position is yours if you want it.”

          “Yes sir, I do,” Yoona agreed, not even hesitating.

          “So if Yoona is one of the officers joining our group, who is the other one?” Siwon wondered.

          “He’s arriving in a couple of hours, you guys already know him,” Kangin said before returning to his office.

          “Who do you guys think it is?” Changmin inquired.

          “Guess we’ll find out when he gets here,” Yoona remarked.

          A couple hours later, after Yoona, Siwon, and Changmin came back from their lunch break, they glanced into Kangin’s office through the open door and saw the back of an officer’s head as he filled out some paperwork. Gathering by their desks, the three waited until Kangin walked out with the officer. “E.L.F., I’d like to introduce you to your newest member transferred today from the Busan precinct, Officer Jeon Jungkook,” Kangin introduced.

          “It’s nice to see you all again, given the circumstances,” Jungkook said with a smile.

          “I was pleased with Officer Jeon’s detective work during our investigation and knew he would be an excellent addition to the group,” Kangin explained. “Make him feel welcome, he’s part of our family now.”

          “I somehow had a feeling it was going to be you,” Changmin replied with a grin as Jungkook began setting his things up at Donghae’s old desk.

          “Thanks, I really enjoyed working with you guys while you were all down in Busan, and I hope I don’t disappoint you all,” Jungkook said.

          “We saw how you were in Busan, I don’t think you’ll disappoint here,” Changmin promised.

          “How long you been a cop?” Siwon wondered.

          “About five years,” Jungkook informed. “I moved to Busan when I was eighteen to join the police academy, but I was raised in Daegu.”

          “What made you wanna leave Daegu?” Yoona inquired.

          Jungkook swallowed before smiling again and saying “Just wanted to get out of a bad environment, didn’t have the best childhood, I’ll just say that.”

          “Understandable,” Changmin remarked. “Well, since you’re new here, we should take you out and get you familiar with the streets if you’re up for it.”

          “Sounds awesome,” Jungkook excitedly responded, eager to bond with his new team. E.L.F. then made their way out of the 18th Precinct, ready to keep the streets of Gangnam safe once again.

          That evening, in a popular nightclub in eastern Seoul, in a back room, one of the owners sat at his desk watching TV when the news came on. “In local news today, Incheon Hospital has finally released the identities of the victims of last month’s car bombing that claimed the lives of six people in Gangnam, one being former Prosecutor Lee Ji-eun,” the news anchor announced before showing the pictures of the victims with their names underneath. “The 18th Precinct found the suspects of the bombings, killing one during a struggle, while the other has apparently vanished without a trace, leading the precinct to close the investigation by marking it as a ‘cold case’.”

          The club owner paused the TV and gazed at one of the names on the screen; Kim Kyung-min. His hand balled into a fist as tears glazed over his irises. Picking up his desk phone, he pressed one on the keypad, which was met with someone asking “What’s wrong, did something happen?”

          “Get the others, and get in here right fucking now,” the club owner demanded through gritted teeth before slamming the phone down.

          Minutes later, there was a knock at the door before the club owner said “Come.”

          The door opened as five young men entered the room. “Is everything okay Namjoon?” one of the blonde men asked.

          “No, everything is not okay Jimin,” Namjoon responded, turning to face the five. He showed them the TV screen and said “My fucking sister was one of the victims in that explosion that happened almost a month ago, and the 18th Precinct let one of the suspects go free.”

          “What the fuck, what kind of dumbass, sacks of shit cops do that?” one of the raven haired men questioned.

          “I don’t know Suga, but I do know that we’re gonna make that precinct pay for letting one of my sister’s killers walk free without repercussion, I can promise you that,” Namjoon stated. “They don’t know what they’ve gotten themselves into, but they’re about to see what happens when someone fucks with the Bangtan Boys. We’re about to go to war with the police boys, get fucking ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bangtan's story will be continued in the spinoff "Mirror Mirror"


End file.
